RCO reports surge in social-media reach and staff changes; $2M in interagency agreements remain active
July 16, 2026 | Board Council Commission Agencies , Executive, Washington
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Jan Fore, executive coordinator for the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) and staff to the Washington Invasive Species Council, opened the staff-report portion of the July 16 meeting with operational updates on communications, staffing and project workload.
Fore said the council’s social-media account has seen its largest reach in the account’s history: "For March through May, our reach was more than 400,000 people," she told the council, adding that the account had gained roughly 1,400 followers in the calendar year to date. She characterized several recent posts—including a Chinese mitten crab parody and a hammerhead worm parody—as viral examples that drove large audience engagement. Fore said social content is sourced only from authoritative materials on partner agency websites to limit factual errors.
On staffing, Fore acknowledged that a project-based program specialist, Jessica LaBelle, left at the end of June and that a new outreach specialist, Addie (Adi) Climac, will start Aug. 10 in a project-based role. Fore said the two project positions formerly covered seven interagency agreements (described as similar to grants) totaling about $2,000,000 in combined funding; four of the seven agreements will sunset by Jan. 2027 and three will continue longer. Fore assigned management of two continuing USDA pest-outreach grants—one to Addie and one to herself.
Fore asked council members to prioritize strategic-plan outcomes later in the meeting and described immediate, low-bandwidth implementation asks tied to the Protect Our Waters campaign adoption: accept WDFW draft language for an RCO-hosted landing page and share WDFW social assets on the council account.
Fore emphasized quality control for the council’s reporting app and website, saying that app QA/QC would be a priority for the incoming outreach specialist and that reports must route to the correct verifiers at partnering agencies. Council members asked questions about project handoffs, coordination with state partners on outreach and target audiences for campaign messaging.
Fore said the council’s social-media account has seen its largest reach in the account’s history: "For March through May, our reach was more than 400,000 people," she told the council, adding that the account had gained roughly 1,400 followers in the calendar year to date. She characterized several recent posts—including a Chinese mitten crab parody and a hammerhead worm parody—as viral examples that drove large audience engagement. Fore said social content is sourced only from authoritative materials on partner agency websites to limit factual errors.
On staffing, Fore acknowledged that a project-based program specialist, Jessica LaBelle, left at the end of June and that a new outreach specialist, Addie (Adi) Climac, will start Aug. 10 in a project-based role. Fore said the two project positions formerly covered seven interagency agreements (described as similar to grants) totaling about $2,000,000 in combined funding; four of the seven agreements will sunset by Jan. 2027 and three will continue longer. Fore assigned management of two continuing USDA pest-outreach grants—one to Addie and one to herself.
Fore asked council members to prioritize strategic-plan outcomes later in the meeting and described immediate, low-bandwidth implementation asks tied to the Protect Our Waters campaign adoption: accept WDFW draft language for an RCO-hosted landing page and share WDFW social assets on the council account.
Fore emphasized quality control for the council’s reporting app and website, saying that app QA/QC would be a priority for the incoming outreach specialist and that reports must route to the correct verifiers at partnering agencies. Council members asked questions about project handoffs, coordination with state partners on outreach and target audiences for campaign messaging.
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