Sanctuary Nomination Process For  Consideration of New National Marine Sanctuaries

by Carol Georgi and Karl Kempton,
Former Energy Planner for San Luis Obispo County,
Lead Author of Proposed Central Coast National Marine Sanctuary, 1990

After two decades, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) invites coastal and Great Lakes communities to nominate their most treasured places for consideration as national marine sanctuaries. (Nominate)

Residents of the California Central Coast have waited twenty years to be able to once again nominate their treasured nearshore coastal and offshore waters. Many individuals and groups have been hard at work over the last few years to reach this point to nominate a national marine sanctuary newly named, The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.

These waters sit between the Channel Island National Marine Sanctuary and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. For location description information, see the Marine Sanctuaries article of August 2014.

San Luis Obispo County’s General Plan requires the Board of Supervisors (BOS) to seek marine sanctuary protection. Historically, in 1990, the BOS vote was unanimous supporting the nomination document titled PROPOSAL TO EXTEND THE MORRO BAY SITE DESIGNATION CANDIDACY TO INCLUDE OUTER WATERS BETWEEN MILL CREEK, MONTEREY COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, AND THE SOUTHERN FLANK OF POINT SAL, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. For more information, see SLO Coast Journal July 2014 Marine Sanctuary article.

Actor and activist Edward James Olmos lends his voice to the new sanctuary nomination process and offers a challenge to the American people.