December 15, 2011 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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Shellfish
Continued from page A-1
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's (NOAA)
National Shellfish Initia-
tive, and aims to create
a partnership between
government agencies and
shellfish growers, promote
shellfish habitat restora-
tion and recreational shell-
fish harvest and improve
water quality in Washing-
ton state.
Gregoire, along with Dr.
Jane Lubchenco, NOAA
administrator, Brig. Gen.
John McMahon of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers,
and Billy Frank, Chair of
the Northwest Indian Fish-
eries Commission and oth-
er community leaders, took
a tour of Taylor Shellfish's
processing plant with Tay-
lor spokesman Bill Dewey
before they spoke to com-
munity and shellfish lead-
ers about the initiative on
Friday.
"It's an exciting day to-
day for the Shellfish indus-
try in Washington state,"
Dewey said. "We're truly
honored to serve as hosts
for this historic announce-
ment of the National Shell-
fish Initiative."
Dewey thanked Gregoire
on behalf of the shellfish
community for her leader-
ship on the subject.
"You have provided con-
:~sistent leadership on water
quality, we thank you for
that," he said.
'' ~ ~Washington leads the
country in the production
of shellfish, such as clams,
oysters and mussels, with
a yearly value of $107 mil-
lion, Gregoire said. The
initiative is designed to
:: ,: :::increase both recreational
:::and commercial shellfish
growing, while also improv-
ing water quality in Wash-
ington.
In fact, increased shell-
'fish habitat in the Puget
Sound could help increase
water quality, since shell-
fish are filter feeders and
naturally clean water,
Dewey said.
Organizers of the Wash-
ington Shellfish Initiative
have several goals and
, plans to work with multiple
i: s~&~ :and local agencies.
For example, the program
could help the Puget Sound
Partnership with its goal
of increasing harvestable
shellfish acres by 10,800
acres by 2020.
The initiative could also
help streamline the per-
mitting and licensing pro-
cess for shellfish growers
to help encourage shellfish
production in the Puget
Sound, while still protect-
ing the environment, Mc-
Mahon said.
"When a strong state
program exists ... great
progress can be made on
many fronts," he said of the
initiative.
The program also aims
Gov. Chris Gregoire got a chance to tour Taylor
saw workers such as Jose Reves, above, hard at
to restore native species
of shellfish to the Puget
Sound and address ocean
acidification and other
sources of pollution into the
sound.
Gregoire said the pro-
grams outlined in the ini+
tiative are funded through
several sources.
"It will take resources
to solve this problem," she
said.
The Washington Sea
Grant will provide $79,198.
in grants during two years
to support the development
of a model to assess the risk
of toxic algae blooms in the
Puget Sound.
NOAA will also give
a $200,000 grant to the
Northwest Straits Com-
mission for the restoration
of native Olympia Oysters
to the Puget Sound and
a $560,000 grant to the
Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife to in-
crease the number of pinto
abalone in the area.
The largest grant, $4.5
million from the Environ-
mental Protection Agency,
will be dedicated to improv-
ing water quality in the
Puget Sound. More than $2
million of that grant will
help local governments cre-
ate programs to identify
water pollution, officials
said.
Additionally, more than
$1 million will go to local
health jurisdictions to cre-
ate sewage system man-
agement plans and $1.5
million will be used to im-
prove manure management
on farmland.
Gregoire stressed that
changes need to be made in
aquaculture policy in order
to preserve the industry for
the next generation.
"What better way to do it
than right here, right now,
to make sure we have the
shellfish industry we need,"
she said.
Lubchenco applauded
Gregoire and Washington
for leading the way in pre-
serving shellfish habitat.
Journal photo by Natalie Johnson
Shellfish on Friday and
work.
"I congratulate the gov-
ernor and her staff ... for
working with us to imag-
ine and develop this ambi-
tious initiative," she said.
"We often hear that society
must choose between the
economy and the environ-
ment ... that is a false di-
chotomy. Clean water en-
ables industry."
Lubchenco said the
Washington Shellfish Ini-
tiative is the first regional
version of the National
Shellfish Initiative.
Frank also spoke highly
of the program. He said it
will help preserve the cul-
ture of shellfishing for fu-
ture generations.
"It's so important that
we all tell our story. Com-
mit yourself for a lifetime,
that's what we've done and
we're going to continue to
do that," he said. "We're
ready to stand by our shell-
fish growers, we're ready
to stand by our governor,
we're ready to stand by our
president."
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Cars
Continued from page A-1
enthralled witch the chal-
lenging track.
While speeds still
reached in excess of 110
miles per hour, Gilmore
said the day was an op-
portunity for experienced
drivers to get the feel of the
track.
Although all of them had
years of experience driving
on tracks in Seattle, Port-
land, California or else-
where, on Saturday and
Sunday the track was a
completely new experience
for all the drivers and mo-
torcyclfsts on it.
The Ridge Motorsports
Park got the go-ahead from
Mason County to begin
work on the track in March,
when the county granted
the owners a change of use
permit to approve using the
land, on Ells Hill Road near
a Mason County Transfer
Station for a motorsports
park.
Contractors worked
through spring and sum-
mer to grade and prepare
the track surfaces for pav-
ing, which happened dur-
ing early fall. The park
is unique in that it has a
separate drag strip and
road course, allowing drag
and road racing events to
happen simultaneously.
However for the weekend's
event, the drag strip had
not yet been paved.
Powell said the park
should be complete, mean-
ing all the paving will be
done, and landscaping and
buildings will be completed,
in time for the first event of
2012 in April.
Drivers came from
throughout the Pacific
Northwest for the two-day
event and one motorcyclist
came all the way from Eng-
land, Powell said.
Several racing organiza-
tions were on site on Sun-
day, including Hooked on
Driving, a national racing
instruction program with a
Portland, Ore.-based fran-
chise. The organization
helped run the event, with
volunteers manning some
of the course's flags, and
also signed interested driv-
ers up for racing lessons.
Drivers and other ob-
servers over the weekend
were also impressed with
the motorsports park's new
pace car, a Fisker Karma
four-door luxury electric
car with extended range.
Powell said he was excit-
ed this weekend to see cars
on the track he's worked so
long to build, and was hap-
py to have a charity event
for Shelton.
"We're giving back to the
community that was kind
enough to host us," he said.
"We're blessed ... we want
the community to know it's
their track too."
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TOO LATE TO CLAS ;IFY
TOO LATE TO CLASSIFY
SALE. Ga-
rage, patio and family room.
New things added. December
16-17, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., 3351
SE Lynch Road. 3.5 miles
from Taylor Town, 3/4 mile up
• . ~ from ,Cole Road. B12/15
FOR SALE: Greg Bennett
RL-3 Royale Guitar and hard-
shell case $400 OBO. Great
Christmas gift! Willmusique@
hcc.net. A12/8
FOR SALE: Vintage Ampeg
G-110 guitar amp Solid state
but very tubey sound. $200
OBO Willmusique@hcc.net
A12/8
Shelton-Mason County Journal -Thursday, December 15, 2011 - Page A-7