HomeMy WebLinkAboutChumash Marine Sanctuary - City of SLO SUPPORT Letter
September 18, 2023
Paul Michel
Regional Policy Coordinator
99 Pacific Street, Suite 100F
Monterey, CA 93940
Paul.Michel@NOAA.gov
RE: Docket Number NOAA–NOS–2021–0080
To Whom it May Concern,
The City of San Luis Obispo strongly supports the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary (CHNMS)
and urges the NOAA to approve the proposed rulemaking that would designate over 5,500 square miles
of waters along and offshore of the coast of central California as the CHNMS.
The coast is vital to California. The CHNMS will help sustain biodiversity, provide recreational opportunity
for the people of the state and the nation, and help sustain the economy based on tourism. As the CHNMS
will fill the gap between two existing sanctuaries, it will magnify the positive effect of those existing
sanctuaries and protect an area that is central to California's history and ecology.
The Chumash and Salinan peoples have fished and gathered in the waters off the Central Coast of
California for over 10,000 years. The cultural, ecological, and historical resources of this region are of
national significance, and the area warrants long-term protection and management.
The City of San Luis Obispo is particularly supportive of NOAA’s proposal to develop a coordinated,
community-based management regime in partnership with Indigenous tribes and tribal organizations, and
to implement a collaborative management structure to involve Indigenous communities in important
management programs and initiatives. NOAA should fully honor and affirm the sovereignty of the first
stewards of these waters through its Framework for Indigenous Collaborative Management.
The City of San Luis Obispo is happy to join with the vast number of supporters in advocating for the
approval the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
Sincerely,
Erica A. Stewart
Mayor