BACKGROUND

RCW 36.125 guides how coastal counties along the Pacific coastline and those in Puget Sound south of the Northwest Straits may establish a marine resources committee.

The Board of County Commissioners appointed an Exploratory Committee to examine if the County should form a Marine Resources Committee (MRC), and if so, what form should it take.

The Exploratory Committee, a group representing a wide range of coastal community interests, held meetings from November 2008 to January 2009 to develop a strategic plan for a proposed Grays Harbor County MRC.  The background report, the Grays Harbor County Marine Resources Committee Informational Workbook (pdf), provided the group with an information base to work from.

During this period, WDFW worked with representatives from all of the coastal counties to develop Performance Benchmarks for measuring Coastal MRC activities and achievements in relation to the RCW 36.125. 

In March 2009, the Exploratory Committee released its recommendations within the report A Recommendation for Establishing a Grays Harbor Marine Resource Committee (pdf).

Based on the recommendations of the Exploratory Committee, the Board of County Commissioners officially formed the Grays Harbor County Marine Resources Committee by Resolution 2009-14  (pdf) on March 16, 2009.