It’s citizen-based marine restoration and protection in action.

Marine Resources Committees in Clallam and Jefferson counties are little-known, hard-working panels of volunteers that focus their efforts on fish and fish habitat.

The committees’ efforts are getting a boost this month — the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative has awarded $80,000 grants to both panels.

“It’s the most ever allocated,” said Tom Cowan, NSMC director.

Of each grant, $10,000 will go toward part-time administrative costs.

The funding originates with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and it is expected that far less will be allocated next year as a result of tightening budgets, Cowan said.

The initiative was authorized by Congress in 1998. It takes a bottoms-up approach to protecting and restoring vital marine resources in the Northwest straits.

Marine resources committees stem from the initiative, which coordinates and nurtures the committees’ progress.

Cowan was in Port Angeles recently to present Clallam County’s grant to commissioners and report on the MRC’s progress. He will go before the Jefferson County commissioners later this month to do the same.

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The rest of the story appears in the Monday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.