A long-running effort by native tribes and environmentalists to establish the first new national marine sanctuary along California’s coastline in 32 years — the aquatic version of a new national park — where offshore oil drilling would be prohibited forever, reached a key milestone on Friday.
The Biden administration published the final environmental impact statement for the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, selecting boundaries that will stretch along 116 miles of coast in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
The area, which includes popular spots like Pismo Beach and the Gaviota Coast, is home to humpback whales, sea otters, leatherback sea turtles, kelp forests, rocky reefs and more than 200 shipwrecks. Under the proposal, it would cover 4,543 square miles — an area nearly four times the size of Yosemite National Park — and extend out to 60 miles offshore.
The Biden administration said Friday that it plans to publish final rules in October, with the designation officially finished by the time President Biden leaves office in January. Former President Donald Trump, during his time in office, attempted to allow new offshore oil drilling along California, Oregon and Washington. The plans never came to fruition, however, due to local and state opposition, including a law former Gov. Jerry Brown signed in 2018 banning the construction of new pipelines, terminals, and other oil drilling equipment in state waters out to three miles off the coast.
The Chumash sanctuary will be the first national marine sanctuary in the nation proposed by a Native American tribe. The Northern Chumash Tribe, based in Los Osos, near Morro Bay, began advocating for the idea in 2015.
“This is a huge moment for the Chumash People and all who have tirelessly supported our campaign over the years,” said Violet Sage Walker, chairwoman of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, on Friday.
Walker, whose father, the late tribal Chief Fred Collins, began the campaign, noted that tribal members “will always be connected to past, present, and future by this special stretch of coastline and the true magic its waters hold.”
A map of the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary (Source: NOAA)
Under the proposed rules, the tribe will be involved with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in overseeing the new sanctuary. As with most sanctuaries, offshore oil and gas drilling, along with undersea mining, will be prohibited. National marine sanctuaries do not limit commercial or recreational fishing.
America has 15 national marine sanctuaries. They can be established by Congress or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under a law signed in 1972 by former President Richard Nixon.
California has four: Monterey Bay, which stretches from the Golden Gate Bridge to Hearst Castle, Channel Islands off Southern California, Gulf of the Farallones off San Francisco, and Cordell Bank off the Marin County coast.
The last national marine sanctuary to be established in California was Monterey Bay, by the administration of George H.W. Bush in 1992, which ended years of political battles after the Reagan administration proposed to allow offshore oil drilling off Big Sur, the San Mateo coast and other parts of Northern California.
One of the main controversies in the planning for the Chumash sanctuary, which involved years of public hearings and more than 100,000 public comments, involved plans for offshore wind farms.
Originally, supporters of the Chumash sanctuary proposed that its boundaries run right up to the southern boundary of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, near Hearst Castle.
But President Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom have supported the construction of floating offshore wind farms off Morro Bay and Humboldt County to provide clean energy. In selecting Friday’s proposed alternative, NOAA left a gap around Morro Bay out of the new sanctuary to allow undersea cables and other equipment associated with connecting future offshore wind turbines to the state’s electrical grid.
Tribal leaders and environmental groups have suggested that once those projects are built, the sanctuary boundaries could be enlarged.
On Friday, one of California’s top environmental officials said he supports that idea.
“There is an interest in a second phase that could expand the sanctuary northward once cables are laid,” said Wade Crowfoot, California’s secretary of natural resources. “We need to cross that bridge when we come to it, but I support a focused discussion on how we can expand the boundaries.”
Crowfoot said the Newsom administration is very pleased that the sanctuary is at the finish line.
“It’s a huge deal,” he said. “That part of the coast is really important environmentally. It’s where the Southern Current meets the Northern Current. There is a remarkable ecological richness. Biologically it’s a really sensitive and important place, and culturally, it’s also very, very important. This coast that will now be protected is fundamental to the Chumash people.”
