New deal reached to advance the creation of Chumash Heritage Marine Sanctuary and proposed wind farm off Morro Bay

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. – After months of back and forth between interested parties, The Northern Chumash Tribal Council and the Morro Bay Offshore Wind Leaseholders announced they have reached a joint position in full support of advancing the Chumash Heritage Marine Sanctuary.

"It's been tricky and it has indeed been ten years of our life that we've been working on this," said Violet Sage Walker, Northern Chumash Tribal Council Chairwoman.

Both parties agreed that the northern boundary of the sanctuary should be located south of Diablo Canyon and north of Port San Luis and Avila Beach to allow for the co-existence of the sanctuary and the development of offshore wind projects.

Originally, Walker wanted the sanctuary to extend north to connect with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

"We saw this as a moment where we needed to decide whether we wanted to wait and get everything exactly perfect or whether we wanted to make a compromise and go forward and I felt that it was the most important thing to do right now was to have a marine sanctuary," said Walker.

The federal government is in the process of finalizing the proposed boundaries of the preserve. 

For more information, click here.

To see Rep. Salud Carbajal's response to the joint statement, click here.