Get New Sanctuary Designated, Staffed and Funded on Day One

By: Leon Panetta. Originally published on montereyherald.com.

On Aug. 24, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Agency announced the release of draft designation documents for the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary on the Central Coast of California. This proposed sanctuary will protect the coastline of most of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.

But more importantly, it will be joined with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which provides coastal protection from Farallones and areas North of the Golden Gate to San Simeon. The combination of both sanctuaries will provide close to one-half of the California coastline with full protection — the largest coastal protection coverage in the continental United States.

It is critical that the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary move forward as quickly as possible. The area supports dense aggregations of marine life, including significant biodiversity of seabirds, marine mammals, and fishes. The sanctuary would also from day one involve tribes and indigenous communities in collaborative management, honoring and acknowledging the first stewards of this coast.

But designation is just the first step in bringing ecosystem-based, community-based conservation to tackle the myriad of threats and issues along this coast. Sufficient funding must be provided also from day one to meet the demands and expectations of managing such a large sanctuary. We cannot afford to wait around for there to be staff, an office, an advisory council, a research vessel, signage and exhibits, as well as the important science, education, and resource protection programs that sanctuaries in California are famous for providing to all of the public.

As the congressman representing the Central Coast during the 1980s and ’90s, my constituents and I were very concerned when the U.S. Interior Department proposed that our pristine coastline be opened up to oil and gas development. Working with the community, I authored legislation creating the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary that specifically prohibited offshore oil and gas drilling within the boundaries of the sanctuary. We pushed hard to put the sanctuary in place as soon as possible. It took time to start up enough staff to develop and implement comprehensive and wide-reaching programs. Sanctuaries were a relatively new concept then and public expectation grew over time as the capacity of the sanctuary grew and people realized the important benefits.

Today, 31 years later, sanctuaries are well-known and valued here in California. Citizens of the Central Coast expect a fully functional and operational sanctuary from the beginning. For that reason, I strongly urge NOAA and our California Congressional Delegation to ensure not just adequate funding, but bold funding commensurate at least with the present-day Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Time and threats from climate change, pollution, coastal development and the loss of wetlands must be dealt with now.

For that reason, we must do everything we can to designate this sanctuary, get it staffed and fully funded on day one. We have a chance to establish historic coastal protection for the California coastline. If we act expeditiously we can establish the kind of protection for our coastline that will preserve it for our children and generations to come. It is a great legacy for the future.

Leon E. Panetta is the former secretary of defense and is currently the co-chairman of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.