Federal and local leaders celebrate designation of Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary at Shell Beach
SHELL BEACH, Calif. - Local officials and community leaders, along with representatives from the federal and state government came together Monday in Shell Beach to celebrate the designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
In attendance for the event included 24th District Congressman Salud Carbajal, California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Assistant Administrator Nicole LeBoeuf, as well as representatives from the Northern Chumash Tribal Council and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
"It's a huge deal for us because what we did today is we protected the coastline from eminent threats like offshore and oil gas production," said Violet Sage Walker, Northern Chumash Tribal Council Tribal Chair. "We will not see any development of our coastline from here all the way down to the Channel Islands. This is one continuous area of protection. This added to the conservation of 30 by 30. This added to the protection of our migrating whales that you see right behind us every day, that people love and the sea otters that we love. This is a fully protected marine habitat now."
On Friday, the Biden administration signed off on the long awaited marine sanctuary announcing NOAA submitted its final rule and management plan for the project.
"This place has been so special to the nominators, long before NOAA got involved," said Nicole LeBoeuf, NOAA Assistant Administrator. "So out of respect for that and really out of a need to have, the community, the indigenous and tribal community give us input along the way as to how we manage this place. we're going to be working with them hand in glove throughout the implementation of the sanctuary management plan. There's going to be a sanctuary community fund set up that will enable projects and participation by the Chumash peoples in actually the implementation of various activities around the sanctuary as we kick things off."
The marine sanctuary designation will become official after a final review by the State of California, which is estimated to be completed by December 2024.
The marine sanctuary will cover 116 miles of coast line, from Gaviota to the Avila Beach area and is the first ever to be nominated by an Indigenous group.
"This is such a striking, physically beautiful place," said Brenda Mallory, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair. "It's also clear that it has a strong history, rooted history, both in the shore area, but also in the communities that surround it, and so when we are looking at places to protect under the President's America the Beautiful initiative, we are very much focused on what communities believe in and value and helping using our sort of federal power to lift that up and give that priority. This is such a great example of a place that needs to be protected. Its indigenous history is so powerful, and the fact that the community around it has been engaged in it is powerful, and we had a moment where we could do it."
Monday's event at Dinosaur Caves park in Shell Beach took place on Indigenous Peoples' Day, a holiday that is observed each year on the second Monday in October.
"We have all come together because of this to support it and to celebrate," said Sage Walker. "People all around the world are going to know the Chumash people, the Chumash name. Our songs and where we came from. This place we're standing on is a sacred site. We grew up here. There's sites all over, up and down the coast from Pismo, all the way to Avila. this whole coast is a rich heritage of stories and and love, and so we put our love into the ocean today and we succeeded. This was a huge win. A huge win for tribes. A huge win for the administration and a huge win for the ocean today."
