County backs marine sanctuary expansion

Sonoma County’s elected officials this week endorsed a federal proposal to expand the boundaries of the Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries located off the Sonoma Coast.
Federal officials are now scheduled to start scoping sessions next week in Bodega Bay to hear public comment on the environmental studies needed to complete the expansion.
Expanded sanctuary boundaries could add an additional 2,771 square miles to the marine sanctuary where oil drilling is off limits.
“The County has long been a staunch unwavering advocate for further coastal protections,” said a report to the board this week from 5th District Supervisor Efren Carrillo’s  office.
The Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (GFNMS), designated in 1981, and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary (CBNMS), designated in 1989, are federally protected marine areas off California’s north-central coast.
The existing sanctuaries support commercial and recreational fisheries, tourism and recreation industries, and coastal economies and communities, said Carrillo’s district director, Susan Upchurch, in the report to the board.
Next week’s hearing in Bodega Bay on Thursday, Jan. 24, starts at 6 p.m.  in the Bodega Bay Grange Hall. Two subsequent public scoping sessions will be held in Gualala and Point Arena.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is considering expansion of the Farallones and Cordell Bank sanctuaries from Bodega Bay in Sonoma County to Alder Creek in Mendocino County, and west to the edge of the continental shelf.
“The sanctuaries are destination feeding areas for endangered blue whales and humpback whales, sharks, salmon, and seabirds like albatrosses and shearwaters that travel tens of thousands of miles,” according to NOAA.
The Point Arena upwelling center also supports the largest assemblage of breeding seabirds in the contiguous United States on the Farallon Islands, according to NOAA.
NOAA anticipates that the review and potential expansion of existing sanctuary boundaries will be completed within 18 to 24 months. Dates for scoping meetings are: Jan. 24 at the Bodega Bay Grange Hall; Feb. 12 at the Gualala Community Center, and Feb. 13, at the Point Arena High School.
All three meetings start at 6 p.m.