New marine facility set for Charleston
By Azenith SmithCHARLESTON - The town of Charleston is full of a wealth of natural resources and a variety of marine-related research institutions. For many years, agencies like the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife have expressed a desire to work together. "By bringing them together, there will be some synergy to take place to expand the amount of research that's conducted here," says Program Manager Steve Bryant. Now, they have that chance. Bryant is from the Oregon Solutions program. It's a program funded by the state legislature to help communities collaborate together. "We offer a fairly unique process of bringing people together in a collaborative way to work across party lines, sector lines, non-profit, public and private," says Bryant. Earlier this year, Governor Ted Kulongoski announced that this program would help build a new marine facility in Charleston for a number of agencies including OIMB, the South Slough National Estuarine Reserve and the Coos Watershed Association among others. Project Co-Convener Arnie Roblan says, this common facility will also serve as a public attraction for visitors to learn more about fishing industry practices and marine activities. "They are going to have their own little tide pools," says Roblan. "There, they will learn what those critters are and then come back here, go out to the beach, look at them in their natural environment. It's that kind of working together that makes a community a better place." He also adds, that all this activity in Charleston will help provide a big stimulus to the economy. "We've got this rich environment of research scientists who could be available for industries, who could want to work in this area to enhance our natural resources." Right now, they're working on securing more funding and looking at several options for the new site, including the Coast Guard housing facility and places near the OIMB campus. They hope to have this project completed in three to five years. It's one of 40 projects currently in the program. Most Popular |
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February 3, 2012
- Coos Bay / North Bend, Oregon
