Kitsap County will be the 8th Puget Sound county to institute a volunteer "Beach Watcher" program with the help of the WSU Extension program.  Kitsap County hopes to train volunteers to lead beach walks, conduct research, and monitor fish and wildlife populations, according to an article in the Kitsap Sun. The project is sponsored by WSU Kitsap County Extension and Washington Sea Grant.

The Beach Watcher program began in 1989 in Island County by Don Meehan, director of WSU Island County Extension.  He modeled the program on the Master Gardeners program.   There are now 400 volunteers in Island county and another 400 in the six other counties that the program has expanded into - Jefferson, Clallam, San Juan, Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties.    

In Kitsap County, as in the other counties, volunteers are interviewed and selected, then take 20 days of training and commit to offering at least 100 hours of community service.  The volunteers measure numbers, types and sizes of juvenile fish and birds; conduct a Shore Stewards program, beach naturalist programs, and ferry lecture programs; walk the beach and remove invasive species, toxic creosote, and litter; and monitor and track intertidal life.