FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 28, 2008

Contact: Nicole Capps, 831-647-4206
Scott Kathey, 831-647-4251

NOAA's Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Seeks Applicants for Advisory Council

NOAA’s Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is seeking applicants for two alternate positions representing research and tourism on its advisory council, which ensures public participation in sanctuary management and provides advice to the sanctuary superintendent.

Alternate council members attend meetings when primary members are not available and assume a seat if a primary member resigns. Candidates will be selected based on their expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying, community and professional affiliations, and views regarding the protection and management of marine resources.

Applicants selected to serve on the advisory council will begin their terms in June 2008. The candidate who is chosen for the research alternate seat should expect to serve until February 2010, while the tourism alternate should expect to serve until February 2011.

The advisory council meets every two months in daytime public sessions held in varying locations along the coast bordering the sanctuary. Since its establishment, the council has played a vital role in advising the sanctuary and NOAA on critical issues and has most recently been focused on the sanctuary’s development of a new management plan.

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council was established in March 1994 to ensure continued public participation in the management of the sanctuary. Serving in a volunteer capacity, the council’s 20 voting members represent a variety of local user groups, the public, and six local and state governmental jurisdictions.

Sanctuary advisory council member application packages are available on the sanctuary’s Web site, http://montereybay.noaa.gov. Applications can also be obtained by contacting Nicole Capps, sanctuary advisory council coordinator, at 831-647-4206 or by e-mail at nicole.capps@noaa.gov. Completed applications must be submitted to Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, 299 Foam St., Monterey, CA 93940 by close of business Friday, May 2.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts, and protects.

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On the Web:

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

NOAA National Ocean Service: http://www.oceanservice.noaa.gov

National Marine Sanctuary Program: http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary: http://montereybay.noaa.gov

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council:
http://montereybay.noaa.gov/intro/advisory/advisory.html