Marel King is the Pennsylvania director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a tri-state legislative commission advising the general assemblies of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. She staffs the seven-member Pennsylvania Delegation, comprised of state legislators, the DEP Secretary and a citizen member.

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She also represents the full Commission on various groups within the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership, providing policy development and legislative drafting at both the state and federal levels. Her focus areas have included the federal Farm Bill and the development and implementation of the Commonwealth’s Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan.  

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Prior to joining the Commission staff, Marel was director of regulatory affairs and then director of natural resources in the governmental relations division of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. She has previously served on the Perry County Cooperative Extension Board and co-chaired the Perry County Community Foundation Advisory Board. She is a past chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Agricultural Law Committee and has served on the Board of the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership. Marel is currently a founding board member of the Cove Mountain Community Theatre and an Elder at the Duncannon Presbyterian Church.  

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She received her J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University and her B.S. in dairy and animal science with high distinction and honors in agricultural economics and rural sociology from the Pennsylvania State University.  

Marel was captain of the two-time national champion Holstein Dairy Quiz Bowl Team in her days as a 4-H member and remains active in agriculture.

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She and her husband have small herds of beef feeder cattle and Boer meat goats and reside on her family’s preserved farm in Central Pennsylvania, continuing a legacy of conservation into its third generation.

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When not on the farm, she roadies for local bands with her husband’s sound service.

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