by Rob Zisette, President
WALPA HAS A NEW ADDRESS!
WALPA
PO Box 75423 Seattle, WA 98175-0245
Please make note of the change!
First, thank you Sally and the rest of the WALPA board for successfully guiding us through 2020 with all the pandemic unknowns and limitations. Sally’s energy and guidance is truly inspirational and sets a high bar for 2021. Second, I am excited to welcome our new directors Wafa Tafesh, Shannon Brattebo, Matt Colston, and Paula Cracknell to the WALPA board. I am also excited about our new President-elect Jen Oden, our new Treasurer Beka Stiling, and the directors who extended their term: Josh Wozniak and Will Hobbs. The WALPA board met on December 1 and plans to continue having virtual meetings on the first Tuesday of each month from noon to 1 pm. Members are welcome to join us, so please email me if you want to attend and I will send you the link.
I plan to carry out the WALPA mission, which is worth re-stating here: “Our mission through WALPA is to allow diverse interests to speak with one voice to protect lakes. We encourage and support programs for lake and watershed protection, restoration and management, provide educational resources and information about lake and watershed management, and foster communication and coordination among lake and watershed stakeholders.”
Fostering communication is my priority, primarily by furthering development of our conference, newsletter, and website. Our 2021 conference will be in Richland and our 2022 conference will be co-hosted with OLA, likely in the Portland/Vancouver area. We need to plan around the unknown pandemic constraints and weigh the benefits of meeting in person versus the convenience of meeting virtually or having both.
We need to fill our Communications/Website/Social Media Committee with active members. Please join chair Sally Abella to ensure that we continue to produce a high-quality newsletter, update our website, and stay on top of social media. We also need a leader and active members for three other important committees: Scholarship, Membership/Nominations/Elections, and By-Laws/Public Policy and Legislative. I hope to have filled some of those positions with board members at our December meeting, but I am sure we need more help, so please email me if you have an interest in joining a committee. Our new Diversity/Equity/Inclusion Committee is going strong and I look forward to their efforts to broaden our outreach and inclusion among lake users. I hope to get our Western Lakes Conference project back on track to help lake associations protect and manage their lakes in Western Washington, as BiJay Adams has done so well for Eastern Washington.
We are all LAKE PEOPLE, and our lakes need our help.
Rob Zisette, rzisette@herrerainc.com
