Kayl to take leave of absence from EPRC to serve with Forest Service

Eastsound Planning Review Committee Chair Mindy Kayl announced on March 16 that she has accepted a position with the US Forest Service for a six months’ contract in the Western mountain states.

In a letter to the EPRC board, Kayl said, “It is both a unique career opportunity and a financial necessity, given the local economy.

“I want to thank you all for the pleasure of working with you on some of our community’s most difficult problems. I would like to take a moment to highlight some of our accomplishments during my tenure. We accomplished these things as a group:

Open house

Our first-ever annual budget

An EPRC calendar

Useful minutes

Web presence

Job descriptions

Greatly improved input with Planning and now Engineering.”

Kayl’s contract begins May 10. She will serve as part of a team that monitors streams in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Her job will place her in the field for eight days and a return to the field station base for six days.

When that contract ends, Kayl has subcontracted with Island Excavation to restore Fishing Bay Road on Lopez Island  in October.

She has served as a contractor for People for Puget Sound in their Deer Harbor projecting, restoring the estuary over the past year. That job involved working with kids from the Orcas Christian School in planting native hedgerows on the property, owned by Bob Conner.

More recently, Kayl has been appointed to the Board of the San Juan Preservation Trust.

After discussing her leave of absence with the other members of the EPRC in attendance, Kayl resigned as chair but remained on the board. She plans to “Stay engaged electronically” and may be able to attend some meetings during the six months’ period.

Kayl’s letter to the board concluded, “I look forward to coming back and seeing progress and I will always be a resource for the committee!”

Gulliver Rankin, who currently serves as vice chair, will assume the position of Chair.