January 17, 2024

State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board

Bugert

Shiosaki

Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed Seattle resident Michael Shiosaki as chair and Leavenworth resident Robert “Bob” Bugert to a seat on the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board.

The board awards about $200 million in grants every other year to tribes, nonprofits and government agencies to create parks, trails and other outdoor recreation opportunities. The board also awards grants to conserve the state's natural resource heritage by protecting working farms and forests and wildlife habitat, including places inhabited by plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.

Shiosaki has served on the board since May 2016. He is the director of the Bellevue Parks and Community Services Department. Previously, he led the Planning and Development Division of the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department and served as the Sammamish deputy parks director. In addition to his work, he is a licensed landscape architect, a member of the Washington Recreation and Park Association and the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Bugert was appointed to fill Shiosaki's old seat. Bugert is the former District 2 Chelan County commissioner. Previously, he was the executive director of the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust, a policy advisor for the Governor's Salmon Recovery Office and spent eight years serving on the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board. His term runs until December 31, 2026.