PORT ANGELES — Two new members have joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council.
Linda Rotmark, former executive director of the Clallam County Economic Development Council, has joined the council as the tourism-economic development representative.
In addition to her 12 years as an economic development director, she has been a board officer on various economic development organizations, including the economic development district, resource conservation district, state-level health education board and state- appointed Community Economic Revitalization Board.
Eric Delvin, the community conservation coordinator for the Nature Conservancy, has joined the council as the conservation representative.
Delvin has been working in that capacity for six years, developing connections with the conservation community, including the coastal treaty tribes.
He holds a doctorate in restoration ecology and worked with the Surfrider Foundation to fund and facilitate the first Marine Resources Committee Summit in 2010, which has led to the formation of the Washington Coast Marine Advisory Council, on which he participates.
The appointees will be filling two seats on the council that were vacated earlier this year.
Alternate members for both seats are already in place, and the new primary members will be serving for the remainder of the term through Dec. 31, 2014.
“The sanctuary’s advisory council provides a direct connection for exchange of ideas between sanctuary management and user groups and communities,” said Carol Bernthal, sanctuary superintendent.
Expertise impresses
“We are impressed with the expertise each new member brings and extremely pleased they have agreed to serve on the council,” Bernthal added.
Established in 1995, the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council provides advice and recommendations on managing and protecting the sanctuary. The council is composed of seven non-government, four tribal and 10 government representatives.
Serving in a volunteer capacity, the council members represent a variety of local user groups, as well as the general public.
Sanctuary advisory council primary and alternate members serve three-year terms and meet several times per year in public sessions.
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary encompasses about 3,310 square miles off the Washington coast, extending from Cape Flattery to the mouth of the Copalis River.
Significant natural and cultural resources include 29 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises, large populations of nesting seabirds, shipwrecks and some of the last remaining wilderness coastline in the lower 48 United States.
