Project completion, budget cuts mean end of jobs for San Juan Initiative coordinator, Conservation District director

Two people who have helped chart the course for natural resource management in San Juan County are looking for new jobs.

"The completion of the San Juan Initiative means that my time at the Puget Sound Partnership has come to an end," wrote Amy Windrope, who coordinated San Juan Initiative's contributions to the regionwide plan to improve the health of our marine waters by 2020.

"The San Juan Initiative Web site will be up and running for the next year if you need any of our documents, www.sanjuaninitiative.org."

Windrope still has an active schedule; on Nov. 3, she was elected to the Island Rec Board of Commissioners.

"The next professional adventure has not yet arrived though I am scanning the horizon for new opportunities. In the meantime, you can find me spending wonderful time with my children, eating tasty treats at Cafe Demeter and picking up the watercolor brush after a three-year hiatus."

At the San Juan Islands Conservation District, Susan Key's position as director has ended because of budget cuts.

"Thank you for your support of the Conservation District's efforts to improve the health of our local soil, water and wildlife," Key wrote in an announcement.

"I have enjoyed working with each of you during my tenure at the district and have appreciated your ideas, creativity and solutions. Due to a decrease in funding, the board of supervisors reluctantly eliminated the position of district manager, so I will no longer be working at the district."

Key, who previously led the water conservation program for the Town of Friday Harbor, said islanders can contact the following people regarding the conservation district: Pete Walmsley, board chairman, pwalmsley001@centurytel.net; Thor Hanson, vice chairman, thor@rockisland.com; Vicki Heater, heater@rockisland.com; Shannon Hoffman, shannon@beachcombersconsulting.com; Henning Sehmsdorf, sshomestead@rockisland.com; Bruce Gregory, natural resources planner, b.gregory@sanjuanislandscd.org.

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