Mission Blue Recognizes Proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary as a Hope Spot

February 28, 2024

Featured image: Northern Elephant Seal © Robert Schwemmer

(CALIFORNIA CENTRAL COAST) – The chilly Pacific waters, rocky shorelines and rolling golden dunes that mark California’s iconic Central Coast have been home to the Chumash Peoples, among others, since time immemorial. Submerged villages of over 15,000 years past are now where sea otters float with their young and snowy plovers scuttle across the sand. Fast forward to 10 years ago, the late Chief Fred Collins proposed the first Tribally nominated National Marine Sanctuary in the United States to permanently protect over 7,000 square miles of irreplaceable ocean ecosystems and to preserve Chumash cultural heritage. Today, his daughter, Violet Sage Walker, Chair, Northern Chumash Tribal Council, is determined to carry on the Chumash Legacy of stewardship and to see her father’s dream through.

 

 

International marine conservation non-profit Mission Blue has named the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary a Hope Spot in support of the pending permanent federal designation that will safeguard the area’s marine habitats indefinitely from destructive activities, such as seabed mining and oil drilling. Violet Sage Walker, Chair of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, and Andrew Christie, recently retired Chapter Director of the Sierra Club Santa Lucia Chapter are the Hope Spot Champions. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is currently in the designation process for the Chumash Heritage Sanctuary, with an official decision targeted for mid-2024. Mission Blue’s Hope Spot declaration highlights the importance of NOAA officially designating the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary this year.

 

 

Dr. Sylvia Earle, founder of Mission Blue, says, “Protecting these submerged ancient villages from future industrial encroachment will ensure the resting places of their ancestors remain undisturbed. The cultural significance of Chumash heritage makes this National Marine Sanctuary the only one of its kind. Bravo to the Northern Chumash Tribal Council for leading this very important nomination as a National Marine Sanctuary and as a key part of the international network of Hope Spots.”

Walker comments on the proposal, “The goal is to achieve the biggest possible Sanctuary and establish collaborative management between all Tribes. Status as a National Marine Sanctuary would serve as the primary mechanism to preserve the marine life and cultural sites as they are and protect them for our future.”

 

 

If approved, the proposed Sanctuary would protect approximately 7,600 square miles of water and coastline, extending from Cambria to Gaviota Creek, linking the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) to the north with the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary to the south, providing a continuous corridor for native species displaced by warming waters. The western boundary is west of the submerged Santa Lucia Bank along the Santa Lucia Escarpment. The eastern boundary is defined by the mean high tide line. However, the map that NOAA has proposed excludes Morro Bay, taking into consideration future wind energy transmission cables that will need to be brought to shore to the Morro Bay power plant and connected to the grid. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management estimates there could be as many as 30 cables within the corridor. “Morro Rock is one of our sacred points, and we’re hoping to work with the offshore wind industry so Morro Bay is not left out of the Sanctuary,” Walker explains.

 

 

President Joe Biden first spoke of the proposed Sanctuary in a speech on May 31, 2023, with these words: “With input from Tribal partners, my Administration also began the designation process for multiple new national marine sanctuaries, including the Hudson Canyon in the Atlantic Ocean and the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Southern California.” As a result of the President’s proclamation, NOAA held an open commentary period through October 2023 in which they received more than 100,000 comments from the public in support of the Sanctuary. Considering the timing of the upcoming U.S. presidential election, Walker and Christie are hoping NOAA approves their proposal before this fall.

“President Biden’s 30×30 Policy is groundbreaking as it is the first time U.S. policy has included Indigenous People as essential environmental protection collaborators,” Christie elaborates. 

Walker says, “We ask that NOAA help teach not only the benefits of protecting our ocean but also promote my community and ancestors’ spirit of stewardship. We are the original Chumash caretakers.”

 

 

The proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary Hope Spot encompasses an exhaustive list of environmentally and culturally significant sites. Highlights include submerged sacred Chumash sites, major shipwrecks, persistent and seasonal upwellings, Arguello Canyon, seasonal upwellings, the Santa Lucia Bank upthrust block, the Rodriguez Seamount, the Kashtayit State Marine Conservation Area, several California Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Protected Areas, wetlands, rookeries, kelp forests, and other significant nationally and internationally important marine life and marine ecosystems. The area also holds California’s largest coastal dunes complex, numerous State and County Parks and Beaches, and includes islands, exposed reefs, and pinnacles along the coastline.

 

 

The Northern Chumash Tribal Council is concerned about current threats to the area including proposed oil drilling, seismic testing, seabed mining, species eradication, habitat destruction, the loss of Chumash cultural sites, and the loss of Chumash historical records.

Christie explains how a Sanctuary designation could elevate the level of protection for the area. “Parts of the proposed sanctuary are California Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Protected Areas, and elevating its protection to the level of National Marine Sanctuary will permanently safeguard the entire area, maintaining its ecological integrity into the future.”

This region of the California coast has witnessed an increase in other offshore industrial activities and proposed development being funneled into the area between Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS) and MBNMS. Potentially impactful activities include untreated agricultural irrigation from the Central Valley, existing sewage outfalls and wastewater treatment, once-through cooling from the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, pressures of human population growth, proposed offshore industrial developments, and seismic surveys. With the current and proposed ocean developments in this region, sanctuary designation would play a vital role in protecting the health of the ocean and local communities by implementing collaborative adaptive management.

 

 

Looking to the future, the Hope Spot Champions seek to develop and extend public education and outreach using existing visitors’ centers, tourism bureaus, educational institutions, museums, NGOs and adjacent sanctuary resources in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. 

Walker concludes, “The protection of these waters will provide hope that after hundreds of years of oppression, genocide, and environmental destruction, the preservation of Chumash culture, respect for Chumash ancestors, and respect for Grandmother Ocean may finally be restored. We are excited to join Mission Blue with this Hope Spot to emphasize the importance of protecting our ocean right now.”

 

About Northern Chumash Tribal Council

The Northern Chumash Tribal Council (NCTC) is a California Native American Tribe and non-profit organization in San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County. As a leader in local to global advocacy for Indigenous Peoples and environmental justice, they champion opportunities to protect our planet and our communities with Indigenous leadership at the helm. NCTC is dedicated to empowering Tribal members and the general community through a diverse array of community-driven initiatives centered around the interconnection between humans and Mother Earth. They are champions of environmental justice throughout their initiatives, including cultural heritage protection, Indigenous leadership advocacy, incorporating of TEK and western science, ecological stewardship, community development, ecosystem restoration, sustainable farming and ranching, and more. The lands and waters have been home to the Chumash Peoples since time immemorial. The Northern Chumash Tribal Council is committed to carrying on this ancestral legacy of stewardship and relational connections with Mother Earth and Grandmother Ocean. 

NCTC is the nominator of the first Tribally nominated national marine sanctuary in the United States, the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. This campaign is actively working towards getting contiguous ocean protection on the Central Coast of California with Indigenous leadership at the helm. NCTC collaborates with and mobilizes a large network of diverse partners and communities, including Tribes, Indigenous organizations, local community members, scientists, environmental organizations, youth leaders, faith communities, zoos and aquariums, federal, state, and local elected representatives, and more. The Chumash Sanctuary is in the final stretch towards designation, with a mid-2024 estimated designation timeline. The final public comment period concluded in October 2023 with over 100,000 comments and 99% supporting sanctuary designation. Securing sanctuary protection will be a big win in the advancement of environmental justice in marine protection.

 

About the Sierra Club, Santa Lucia Chapter

The Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club was established in 1968 and represents the Sierra Club’s members and supporters in San Luis Obispo County, California. The chapter is a primarily a volunteer-run organization, with a dedicated team that helps chapter members and the wider community stay informed, get outdoors, take action on conservation issues, and engage with elected officials. The Santa Lucia Chapter’s programs actively engage in an intersectional array of local environmental education and advocacy on the Central Coast. This includes marine protections, land management, development of renewable energy, phasing out fossil fuels, zero waste, climate change mitigation and environmental, social and racial justice. Over the decades, chapter leaders have been instrumental in the designation of three major wilderness areas and The Bishop Peak urban protected open space area; the prevention of destructive development in vulnerable communities and ecosystems; the implementation of city and county Community Choice Energy policies; and so much more. The Santa Lucia Chapter was a founding supporter of the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary campaign alongside Chief Fred Collins of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council. The chapter has advocated for national marine sanctuary protection for the Central Coast’s waters since 2006. Their team remains a pivotal part of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary campaign coalition in the final stages of designation.