Maryland's Department of Natural Resources is just now getting around to announcing who is on their oyster panel, though the names have been known for weeks and the panel had its first meeting yesterday. This 21-member group was created by a new law last year to revive oyster restoration and do a better job of coordinating all the moving parts at the federal, state and nonprofit levels. Let's hope they had something to say about that artificial reef the state's contractors put in the wrong spot. And the commitee membership goes to:

 Chair: William Eichbaum, World Wildlife Fund

Sherman Baynard, Maryland Coastal Conservation Association

Don Boesch, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

Torrey Brown, Intralytix, Inc. & Oyster Recovery Partnership

Mark Bryer, The Nature Conservancy

Kim Coble, Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Richard Colburn, Maryland State Senator

Stephen Lafferty, Maryland State Delegate

Douglas Legum, Real Estate Developer

Doug Lipton, University of Maryland Sea Grant Program

Mark Luckenbach, Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Pat Montanio, National Oceanic and Administrative Administration

Tony O’Donnell, Maryland State Delegate

Midgett Parker, Linowes & Blocher, LLP

Ben Parks, Maryland Watermen’s Association

Bill Richkus, Versar, Inc.

Brian Rothschild, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth

Jason Ruth, W.H. Harris Oyster Company

Eric Schott, University of Maryland Center for Marine Biotechnology

Don Webster, University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Service

Bill Windley, Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen’s Association

Some familiar names (Coble, Torrey Brown, Boesch), some not so familiar names (Doug Legum? Midgett Parker?) but all constituencies appear represented.