MRC awards grants to local programs

Every two years, the Wahkiakum chapter of the Marine Resources Committee awards grants to local applicants, supporting education, improving parks, and more.

They recently announced their approved projects for 2023-2025.

Carol Ervest was awarded $1,000 to teach a fish preservation workshop. The workshop will give participants a hands-on opportunity to learn how to preserve fish using an approved USDA pressure canning method, and provide information on other preservation methods like salting/pickling, smoking, and freezing. Pressure gauges on participant’s canners will also be tested if desired during the workshop.

Mike Passmore’s Wahkiakum Outdoors program received $3,060 to continue a series of lectures and discussions on habitat. Potential speakers may be invited from local universities, experts, and through the Washington Speakers Bureau.

Wahkiakum County Port 2 Manager Sam Shogren was awarded $6,936 to install a safety light near the launch ramp at Svensen Park on Puget Island as well as to design and install Spanish language warning signs, adding them to existing signs along the beach at Vista Park that warn visitors of currents, the danger from passing ships, and the need to don lifejackets when wading or swimming.

Wahkiakum County Port 1 Manager Todd Souvenir was awarded $10,000 to continue repairs of the pathways at County Line Park, which are deteriorating because of age and tree root systems. The damage limits handicap and elderly access to the water and Port 1 hopes to create a safe place for the community and students to view the marine habitat and provide visitors views of the river.

M.D Johnson was awarded $3,500 to give Wahkiakum students a hands-on and in-the-field experience of the Lower Columbia and Willapa Bay through marine science/estuary education field trips. Students will learn “how every single individual plays a role in the preservation and conservation of our wild and in this case wet natural future.”

Wahkiakum High School teacher Kyle Hurley was awarded $4,893 that will allow his fisheries/environment class to conduct two new research studies using trail cameras and technology. They will place cameras near Duck Creek to see how the ecosystem changes when fish arrive in the streams and place cameras near wood duck boxes to monitor activity.

Paula Culbertson, on behalf of the Mecha Mules Sea Perch Team, was awarded $5,640, which will be used for additional maintenance to the Julia Butler Hansen Swimming Pool, so the robotics team can practice in water over six feet in depth during months the pool is not open to the public, and helping them to simulate the environment at international competition.

The grants await approval by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.