NOAA has released the draft designation documents for the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary for public comment. The action comes after the agency analyzed and evaluated feedback from the public, stakeholders, tribes and Indigenous communities, scientists and federal and state agencies.
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is part of a network of underwater parks encompassing more than 620,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters from Washington state to the Florida Keys, and from Lake Huron to American Samoa.
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is part of a network of underwater parks encompassing more than 620,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters from Washington state to the Florida Keys, and from Lake Huron to American Samoa.
"Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary would be the fifth national marine sanctuary off California and sixth off the continental West Coast," write Erica Donnelly-Greenan, Dan Haifley and Tracey Weiss in a Guest Commentary. "This new designation would increase the protection of ecosystems from Mendocino County to southern Santa Barbara County. It would fulfill national marine sanctuary program protection goals, facilitate research, outreach, education and maritime heritage objectives by protecting sacred Chumash cultural sites."