In May, the Trump administration announced plans to “review” the status of 22 terrestrial national monuments and five marine sanctuaries, including our local Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument and Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries. Swift opposition followed, including from Sierra Club, and most recently from Lake, Sonoma, Mendocino and Marin county boards of supervisors supporting resolutions attacking these protected areas.
On June 8, the state legislature passed AJR 15 as an official expression to support all of California’s threatened monuments and sanctuaries. The resolution was proposed by the Chapter’s own Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) and Jim Wood (D-Santa Rosa) and states: “It is the sense of the Legislature that America’s protected federal public lands are a national treasure that belong to all Americans, which should be maintained for future generations; and that those protected federal public lands in the State of California are integral to the history, culture, economy, natural environment, and values of the state and for which California is globally renowned.”
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument comprises 330,000 acres, almost all of them in Redwood Chapter. This special place received protected status in 2015. Its extraordinary biodiversity, outstanding recreational potential and rich Native American cultural history made it ideally suited for designation, which received broad public support throughout the region.
The Department of the Interior opened public comment on this monument “review” status in May. It closes July 10, and we are asking all Sierra Club members who care about preserving our protected public lands to speak out.
Visit the Department of the Interior comment portal and click Comment Now to submit remarks online.
The Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries protect about 4,500 square miles of Pacific Ocean waters from the Golden Gate to just north of Point Arena. The National Marine Sanctuary status prohibits oil and gas exploration and drilling, more stringent pollution protections and bans against disturbing the seabed and other resources.
This nutrient-rich water supports an extraordinarily diverse ecosystem, which includes at least 25 endangered or threatened species and 36 marine mammal species, including the blue, gray and humpback whales, seals and sea lions, dolphins, seabirds and sharks. The sanctuary also supports local tourism, the fishing industry and critical research done at the U.C. Davis Bodega Marine Lab, and also provides partnerships with local governments to promote programs to protect and enhance marine resources and promote scientific research and education, according to Redwood Chapter Conservation Chair Tom Roth.
