Near Shore Ecosystems

SUMMARY: Kollin Higgins with King County will describe aspects of marine nearshore areas of Puget Sound with a focus on areas associated with the Green River Watershed. These important areas if our ecosystems were frequently overlooked in the past and residential development was encouraged to take place in this sensitive environment.  He will highlight some of the important ecological interactions as well as summarize the impacts associated with shoreline erosion control structures associated with residential development and ways we can reduce those impacts.

BIO: Kollin Higgins is a Senior Ecologist with King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks for the last 19 years.  He primarily works on salmon recovery efforts in the Green Duwamish Watershed and the Snoqualmie River system and on marine shoreline management issues.  He has worked on several large multi-objective planning efforts like the ‘Farm Fish Flood’ in the Snoqualmie River and the Lower Green System Wide Improvement Framework.  He started working on salmon recovery in the Green River watershed shortly after Chinook salmon were listed on the Endangered Species Act in 1999.  He has a B.S. in Marine Biology and Zoology from Humboldt State University in 1992 and a MMA (Master of Marine Affairs) focused on fisheries management from the University of Washington in 1999.