The Trump administration’s recent decision to “review” the protected status of our local marine sanctuaries is a troubling and vicious attack on the Sonoma, Marin and Mendocino coast, which supports an incredible diversity of marine life, tourism, fishing and research.
The Department of Commerce included areas added to the Greater Farallones and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries in 2015 on its list of waters that could lose protected status and be open to resource exploration and extraction, including off-shore oil and gas drilling.
This decision is a gift to the fossil fuel industry and stands contrary to public opinion, which overwhelmingly supports maintaining these protections.
Even in a time when climate change is already altering weather patterns and ocean temperature while posing an immediate threat to many species, the Trump administration ignores the data in favor of illusionary energy dominance through the conveyance of natural marine treasures to big oil.
Sierra Club Redwood Chapter applauds the Sonoma, Mendocino, Marin and San Francisco county boards of supervisors for passing resolutions in May and June opposing the unnecessary review of the sanctuary statuses.
Sierra Club members have long supported increased preservation of these critical habitats and ecosystems. Local members were among those who fought long and hard to secure the first marine sanctuary designation of the area in 1981.
After years of local advocacy and stalemated congressional legislation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) initiated an administrative process through the National Marine Sanctuary Act that more than doubled the original square miles in 2015.
The two sanctuaries protect about 4,500 square miles of Pacific Ocean waters from the Golden Gate to just north of Point Arena. Sanctuary status prohibits oil and gas exploration and drilling, establishes more stringent protections against pollution and bans disturbance to the seabed. It also stimulates partnerships with local governments to launch programs to protect and enhance marine resources and promote scientific research and education.
Upwelling within the sanctuaries bring nutrient-rich waters from the depths to support the marine food chain and an abundance of sea life that extends at least as far south as the Monterey Canyon.
This nutrient-rich water supports an extraordinarily diverse ecosystem, which includes at least 25 endangered or threatened species and 36 marine mammal species, including the blue, gray and humpback whales, seals and sea lions, dolphins, seabirds and sharks. The sanctuaries also support a multimillion-dollar tourism and fishing economy and 50 years of critical research at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab.
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors resolved that rescinding the sanctuary status would, “create unnecessary economic uncertainty and is in disregard to the expectation of fisherman, residents, recreational users, researchers, state and local governments, and others who participated in the process that led to the sanctuary designation and related protections.”
The Sierra Club Redwood Chapter agrees and urges the public to submit comments to the government online in support of maintain sanctuary status. The deadline to enter a comment is July 26. Comment at www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NOAA-NOS-2017-0066
Tom Roth is the Conservation Chair of the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter.
