ARLINGTON — The Stillaguamish Watershed Council will ring in its 12th year with its next meeting at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26.

The Angel of the Winds Casino Watershed Restaurant conference room will serve as the site for the discussion between the 26 locally focused stakeholders whose stated aims are to restore and maintain a healthy Stillaguamish River system.

“The significance of this diverse group is that we can address issues from varying perspectives, in an open forum where all voices can be heard in an atmosphere of respect and value,” said Franchesca Perez, an assistant with the Stillaguamish Watershed Council and an outreach biologist with the Stillaguamish Tribe’s Natural Resources Department. “You may or may not have heard of our group or know some of our members, or even forgotten all about us, but a new year is a time for renewal and remembrance.”

Perez explained that the Stillaguamish Watershed Council formally began in 1990 as the Stillaguamish Implementation Review Committee, whose original focus was to assist in the cleanup of water pollution in the Stillaguamish River, by guiding the implementation of the Stillaguamish Watershed Action Plan approved that year by the Department of Ecology.

The group began and continues to be comprised of a diverse variety of agencies, non-profits and local citizen representatives, whose mission has expanded over time to include a timely focused effort on the recovery of Stillaguamish Chinook, after they were listed as threatened in 1999.

“The Stillaguamish Watershed Council worked hard coordinating with regional entities to develop the Stillaguamish Watershed Chinook Recovery Plan that was adopted in 2005, which is included in the federal recovery plan for the entire Puget Sound Chinook population,” Perez said. “This grassroots group has always held dear the idea that, as a group of locally focused stakeholders, we should do our best to focus on issues that impact the quality of life of both humans and wildlife.”

Perez expressed the hope that the Stillaguamish Watershed Council could eventually expand to address upland wildlife and avian habitat issues, which she identified as also being key to a sustainable ecosystem future.

“We learn from the past to provide for a healthy and naturally sustainable future,” Perez said.

Read more about the Stillaguamish Watershed Council’s work and how to participate at www.stillaguamishwatershed.org.