by Victoria Brandon, Redwood Chapter Chair
On June 9, 2015 President Barack Obama gave final approval to athe expansion of both the Cordell Bank and Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries, thus shielding the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts from petroleum exploration or production.
Activists have been working for nearly 40 years to establish permanent protection against oil drilling in the area, a breathtakingly beautiful stretch of coastline that provides rich habitat for fish and other marine life. Sanctuary designation will achieve the goal of forbidding any energy or mineral exploration or production from Bodega Head north to Manchester Beach near Point Arena. The need for action has been particularly acute since 2008, when a moratorium on offshore oil drilling was allowed to expire. Subsequently, the Obama administration removed obstacles to petroleum exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, along the Atlantic Coast, and in Alaska. Environmental regulations of all sorts have also been subject to sustained attack in what many people have come to call a “war on nature.”
Now the protected area, which was first given special status in 1981, will more than double in size to more than 4500 square miles, to include a crucial segment of the ocean floor where an unusual upwelling of cold water brings nutrients to the shallow water along the shoreline, encouraging intense plankton blooms that provide food for fish, marine mammals, rare turtles and countless birds. The largest seabird colony on the U.S. mainland is within the extended sanctuary boundaries, and so is the underlying food source for the existing protected areas to the south.
Protection of the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts was a top priority for former Rep. Lynn Woolsey, who collaborated with Senator Barbara Boxer to achieve special designation legislatively, to no avail. On Woolsey’s retirement, Rep. Nancy Pelosi asked President Obama to take administrative action to achieve the same objective. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration then held seven local public hearings and collected more than 1300 comments, most of them strongly supportive of permanent protection. A final Environmental Impact Statement was published in December, and a final rule on March 12; presidential action was the final act needed to make the result official.
These Sanctuary designations will be celebrated from 11AM-3PM on SUNDAY, JUNE 28th at the Gualala Arts Center, 46501 Gualala Rd. Speakers include former Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, who led Sanctuary efforts; Congressman Jared Huffman, NOAA officials and others, and there will also be music, exhibits, films, food venders, and children’s activities.
See you there!
