Nearly 10 years after being established, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary is emerging from its infancy.

When the sanctuary was designated July 16, 1994, its staff consisted of one person housed in the basement of the Port Angeles Federal Building.

Today, the sanctuary has a 16-person staff.

And it recently moved its office into a third-floor suite in The Landing mall, 115 E. Railroad Ave., Port Angeles.

“In some ways, we are still the new kid on the block,” sanctuary Superintendent Carol Bernthal said. “But we are changing and growing.”

Officials are beginning the process of reviewing their management plan and developing an all-encompassing five-year plan for the sanctuary.

The sanctuary encompasses 3,310 square miles off the Olympic Peninsula, extending 135 miles along the Washington coast from about Cape Flattery south to the mouth of the Copalis River.

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