Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue and Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office hosted visitors from Canada at Taylor’s Landing today under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. The project is designed to strengthen U.S. and Canadian Leadership and expertise in the Arctic to promote and implement policies and practices that will allow effective response to potential future Arctic search and rescue cases. Due to increasing sea and air traffic through the arctic, U.S. – Canadian joint preparedness and its ability to respond to emergencies is increasingly important, and this project will enhance bilateral coordination at all levels, municipal to federal, to improve decision making and mitigate  risk. We were honored to meet and share our lessons learned with this esteemed group of representatives from our neighbors to the north.