San Juan County Marine Resources Committee Elects Steve Revella as New Chair

Steve Revella.. Photo by Jeff Hanson.

Kit Rawson Steps Down as Chair and John Aschoff Elected Vice Chair

Kit Rawson is stepping down as the Chair of the San Juan County Marine Resources Committee (MRC). He will remain an active member of the Committee. Kit, Conservation Science Manager with the Tulalip Tribes, has chaired the MRC since April, 2005. The MRC is a citizensʼ advisory committee dedicated to the protection and restoration of marine resources in the San Juan Islands. The committee makes recommendations to the County Council on marine resource issues.

The start of Kitʼs chairmanship coincided with the establishment of the San Juan County Marine Stewardship Area (MSA) and he guided the MRC and the local communities through an active process to develop the Marine Stewardship Area Plan, which was adopted by the County Council in July, 2007. The plan now guides the work of the MRC.

Kit was also instrumental in starting and nurturing the now annual San Juan Marine Managers Workshops, which brings together local scientists, staff and policy makers from a wide variety of agencies that have management responsibilities in the marine waters of the San Juan
Islands. Kitʼs leadership has helped bring tribal representation to the workshops.

The salmon and rockfish recovery efforts in the County have also benefited from Kitʼs expertise. He has been active on the technical and advisory committee that helps analyze and rank projects for federal and state salmon recovery funds, and recently sat on the Rockfish
Advisory Group which worked with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop the Rockfish Conservation Plan presently out for public review.

On May 12, the Marine Resources Committee elected Steve Revella as the new Chair. Steve lives on San Juan Island, is a recreational boater and fisherman and retired from a long career in international management consulting.

Listening and collaborating are skills Steve has used during his tenure on the MRC. He was involved with the MRC work to inform and respond to NOAAʼs proposed vessel rule to protect killer whales.

While on the MRC, Steve has also worked with fishermen to gain support for rockfish protection, and worked with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to hold a series of seminars about the stateʼs crab fishery that led to increased understanding on both sides.

What keeps Steve energized are the people involved. While politicians may sometimes be disgruntled with so much citizen involvement, he knows that the work of the MRC is relevant and the issues important to the future of the marine ecosystem.

The newly elected Vice Chair of the Committee is John Aschoff of Orcas Island. A new member of the MRC, John has been an active volunteer doing marine related work including Soundwatch, the Friends of the San Juans and the SeaDoc Society. He is retired from a career in software development in both technical and managerial roles for IBM.

John is very interested in the protection and restoration of the marine environment in the San Juans. He volunteered to work on the comprehensive shoreline survey conducted with salmon recovery funds by the Friends of the San Juans, and spent extensive time on the water with Soundwatch as they contacted recreational boaters about whale watching practices and regulations. He works on Outreach and Education with the Stewardship Network of the San Juans.

John has been impressed with the level of interest and expertise on the committee and looks forward to tapping that expertise for future projects.