The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, the first Tribally nominated national marine sanctuary in the U.S. was officially designated on November 30, 2024. After over 40 years of advocacy, the area was originally nominated for designation in 2015 by the late Northern Chumash Tribal Council Chief Fred Collins. This effort has now successfully protected 4,543 square miles of the Pacific Ocean and reaches across 116 miles of coastline in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. The designation will protect the local ecosystem from drilling and other harmful practices while also conserving underwater Tribal cultural and historic sites.
Over the last year, TCA grantee, the Northern Chumash Tribal Council (NCTC), advocated to move this effort forward, agreeing to reduce the boundaries from the original proposal to ensure its designation. The reduced boundaries will allow for offshore wind energy to be transported through underwater cables from the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area to the shore.
With designation now complete, NOAA will be the lead agency managing the new sanctuary, with NCTC and other Tribes providing co-stewardship leadership. Part of the management plan requires NOAA to examine options by 2032 to enlarge the footprint of the sanctuary to those areas that were excluded. In the meantime, NCTC and its partners will work on sustaining the capacity that they have built up through the designation phase of this campaign and incorporate Traditional Ecological Knowledge into the final management plan.
TCA supported the designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary through support to Sierra Club Santa Lucia Chapter and the Northern Chumash Tribal Council.
