The sanctuary designation advances President Biden’s ocean conservation legacy and his America the Beautiful Initiative, which supports locally-led collaborative conservation efforts across the country and sets a national goal of protecting, conserving and restoring at least 30% of US lands and waters by 2030. With this designation, the Biden-Harris Administration has now conserved more than 45 million acres of lands and waters.
“This historic Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary designation, made possible thanks to President Biden’s America the Beautiful Initiative, will help provide critical environmental protections and allow tribal and Indigenous community management of the new sanctuary,” said US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “This milestone in our commitment to Indigenous communities and natural lands will boost recreation, tourism, and other local industries along California’s central coast.”
“The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary is the result of state, territorial, local, and Indigenous leaders partnering with the Biden-Harris Administration to show that we can protect culturally and ecologically important waters while building a clean energy future,” said Brenda Mallory, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “With this announcement, President Biden has now conserved more than 45 million acres of lands and waters while protecting sites that honor Indigenous communities and tell a fuller story of our nation.”
Stretching from just south of Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County to the Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County, the sanctuary will bring comprehensive community- and ecosystem-based management to nationally significant natural, historical, archeological and cultural resources—including kelp forests, rocky reefs, sandy beaches, underwater mountains and more than 200 NOAA-documented shipwrecks.
“NOAA recognizes and celebrates this unique area’s modern-day and historic cultural connections to Indigenous peoples. Tribal and Indigenous communities will be co-stewards, as informed by their values, knowledge, and traditions,” said NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad, Ph.D. “The sanctuary designation will support and conserve the area’s rich biodiversity, create new opportunities for research and economic development, including recreation and tourism, and co-exist with renewable energy, fisheries, and other sustainable ocean uses.”
The sanctuary’s boundaries exclude areas where future subsea electrical transmission cables and floating offshore substations could be installed outside the sanctuary to connect the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area to the electrical power grid at Morro Bay and Diablo Canyon Power Plant, ensuring that the sanctuary meets both conservation and clean energy goals. NOAA will consider a potential expansion of the sanctuary in the coming years after transmission cables have been laid.
This sanctuary designation is the result of a decade of work by Tribes, Indigenous Peoples, community leaders, organizations, businesses, state and local officials, and members of Congress—including then-Senator and now Vice President Kamala Harris—to develop and advance the vision for the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
“The announcement of NOAA designating Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary couldn’t have come at a better time,” said Violet Sage Walker, Chairwoman of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, the organization that nominated the sanctuary in 2015 under the leadership of her father, the late Chief Fred Collins. “This recognition is a crucial moment for our community. It will not only raise awareness of the Chumash People around the world but also honor the legacy of my late father and affirm our commitment to the stewardship of our land. I hope we will be remembered for our dedication to actively protecting and nurturing Mother Earth and Grandmother Ocean.”
“This sanctuary designation marks a hard-fought victory for the Chumash people, our conservation priorities, and the responsible development of offshore wind as California strives to meet its ambitious clean energy goals,” said California Senator Alex Padilla. “Thanks to this designation and sanctuary management plan, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians will play an active role in preserving their traditions and managing these important cultural and ecosystem resources.”
Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary is the fifth designated in California and one of the largest in the National Marine Sanctuary System. The sanctuary designation will take effect following 45 days of continuous session of the US Congress, which is anticipated to be in December 2024.
