Surfrider Foundation South Sound Chapter welcomes you to our May meeting this Thursday at 6:30. Location: The Swiss, 1904 S. Jefferson Ave, catty-corner from the stairs at UW Tacoma. The Swiss is open to all ages until 8 PM. You can get a tasty meal at this popular watering hole if you come early. The meeting will include a public presentation by Casey Dennehy, Surfrider’s Washington Coastal Program Manager, and Board Chairman of the Grays Harbor County Marine Resources Committee. Washington Department of Natural Resources is launching a new program called Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). Casey and Surfrider will be playing a significant role in the program, helping to define the economics of non-consumptive recreation on Washington’s coast. Casey’s experience with Native American communities, fisheries, wood and fiber product industries, petroleum transport facilities, nature conservancies, scientists, and the general public in the Outer-Coast counties will be invaluable to the first phase of MSP. Surfrider will also be stimulating public involvement in the data collection by sponsoring fun beach activities this summer. In 2010 the population of US coastal counties represented 39% of the total population of the nation and this proportion continues to grow. How can we use the coastal zones in a way that preserves both human and natural interests? Surfrider chapters all along US coasts tackle this problem every year. The Washington MSP effort follows in the footsteps of a similar program in Oregon that the Surfrider Foundation helped roll out. -- South Sound Chapter Surfrider Foundation southsound@surfrider.org www.surfrider.org/southsound