PORT ANGELES — The economic value of nearshore systems will be the topic of two public forums Thursday.
The two-hour forums on the Central Strait Ecosystem Services Valuation Pilot Project that is conducted in Clallam County will be at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. in the commissioners’ meeting room at the courthouse.
Nearshore ecosystems
The forums will introduce an analysis of the economic value of the central Clallam County nearshore ecosystems, according to the Coastal Watershed Institute, Earth Economics and Clallam County, which is presenting the forums.
The term “nearshore” refers to the region of land extending between the shoreline and the beginning of the offshore zone.
The next day, the Strait of Juan de Fuca Ecosystem Recovery Network will be updated on that project and the Watershed Stewardship Resource Center Pilot Project in Jefferson County during a quarterly meeting.
The Dec. 6 meeting, which is open to the public, will be from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Clallam County commissioners’ meeting room, Room 160, at the county courthouse at 223 E. Fourth St.
At the quarterly meeting, speakers will tell about the next steps for the two North Olympic Peninsula projects.
The watershed stewardship resource center project, funded by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, is based at the county Department of Community Development offices at 621 Sheridan St., Port Townsend.
A major focus of the watershed resource center is to promote the use of low-impact development, or LID, for stormwater management.
The grant also funded development of an LID demonstration garden at Albert Haller Playfields in Sequim through an agreement with the Clallam County Conservation District.
The Strait ERN is one of the Puget Sound Partnership’s Local Integrating Organizations working to the Action Agenda for Puget Sound protection and recovery.
Strait Action Area
The Strait Action Area encompasses much of Clallam and Jefferson counties extending from Cape Flattery near Neah Bay east to Point Wilson in Port Townsend on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Information on the Puget Sound Partnership and the 2012-2013 Puget Sound Action Agenda can be found at www.psp.wa.gov.
For more information on the fall quarterly meeting, email John Cambalik, Strait ERN coordinator, at StraitSoundEnvironmental@wavecable.com.