Chumash tribe's marine sanctuary proposal is progressing

Part of the California coast seen from Tajiguas.
(Photo by Karla Gachet, The Washington Post)

More than 150 miles of central California coastline with an expanding reach into the Pacific Ocean once belonged to the Chumash tribe; they have applied to make that land, all 7,000 square miles of it, a federally protected marine sanctuary with the Chumash people its steward, reports Silvia Foster-Frau of The Washington Post. Should the Northern Chumash Tribal Council's proposal be approved, "Chumash tribes would gain a unique leadership role over an expansive marine sanctuary, including the ability to block unwanted commercial development on the land and water within its bounds. . . . The Biden administration has spoken in favor of a Chumash marine sanctuary proposal."

The proposed boundary used to initiate the designation process.
(Map by Szu Yu Chen, The Washington Post, from NOAA data)

The sanctuary plan is part of the tribe's efforts "to revive and restore its heritage, culture and land," Foster-Frau writes. The campaign goes back  40 years, "as tribal members struggled to raise the money and political support needed for the huge endeavor. . . . They also faced resistance from some local fishermen who expressed concerns that the sanctuary could harm their businesses." Their initial request was made in 2013, and in 2015, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration accepted their application, but it sat idle during the Trump administration years. Under the Biden administration, the proposal has "moved into the next bureaucratic phase, designation, and NOAA began outlining the terms of the potential sanctuary. . . Now the clock is ticking as the tribe "aims to get the hard-fought designation in place before the 2024 presidential election when a new administration could take over and force them to restart their decades-long effort."

Should the proposal be approved, "NOAA could begin bringing the sanctuary to life in the next couple of years. That would come with increased government resources for ecological research, public education and outreach, and operating a visitors' center to teach the public about the importance of conserving ocean waters, said Paul Michel, regional policy coordinator for NOAA sanctuaries' West Coast region," Foster-Frau adds. "NOAA is also looking for unique ways to incorporate the tribe into its efforts, he said, including having Chumash translations on sanctuary signage and including tribal history in educational programming.The significance of the proposed sanctuary would be told 'through the eyes of the stewards of this coast for 10,000 years,' Michel said. 'You put it in that perspective, and it gets people's attention.'"