Petition

Help Advance an Indigenous-Led Marine Sanctuary in California

10,663 signed. Let’s get to 20K.

Call on the Biden Administration to Create the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary

On Nov. 9th 2021, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration advanced the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary into the designation phase after 6 years of consideration.

The coastal region near San Luis Obispo, California is the ancestral home of the Northern Chumash people and one of the world’s most biologically diverse regions. The area also hosts 25 threatened, endangered, or critically endangered species, including humpback whales and leatherback sea turtles, and one of the largest remaining kelp forests on the Western Seaboard. 

The Biden Administration is currently considering the creation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary (NMS) to protect sacred Chumash sites, hotspots of biodiversity, and vital marine habitats along the California coast. 

The proposed area of the National Marine Sanctuary · Only One

This protection would cover feeding grounds for numerous species of whales and dolphins, sea otter populations, kelp forests, and vital fisheries. It would also provide additional resiliency for marine ecosystems in the face of climate change, warming oceans, losses in marine biodiversity, and impacts to communities, culture, traditions, and economies. 

At a moment when California has lost more than 90 percent of its kelp to warming waters, and a recent oil spill has wreaked havoc on marine life, safeguarding these ecosystems is critical for the future of coastal communities.

The proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary has been on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) nomination list since 2013, but no further action has been taken · Robert Schwemmer / NOAA
Submerged Chumash villages and cultural heritage sites lie under the coastal waters and along the shoreline · Chris Burkard
Underwater towers of kelp provide food and shelter for thousands of fish, invertebrates, and marine mammal species · Claire Fackler / NOAA

The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary would represent a huge step forward for Indigenous-led conservation in the United States and a major milestone for addressing systemic climate inequality. 

The Chumash are one of the few ocean-going tribes among the First People of the Pacific Coast—the island and marine ecosystems co-evolved with the culture and traditions of the Tribe. As such, the climate crisis disproportionately affects their way of life and their long standing historical relationships with land and sea. 

California is the seventh largest source of fossil fuel in the U.S. · Guillaume Issaly

If the recent oil spill on the California coast told us anything, it’s that we cannot afford continued inaction in protecting vulnerable marine ecosystems and the coastal communities that depend on a thriving, healthy ocean. Creating this marine sanctuary will stave off future oil exploration and exploitation of natural resources, instilling critical protections for both people and the planet.  

Add your name below to urge the Biden Administration to advance the Chumash Heritage Marine Sanctuary immediately. 

Supporters
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Hannah M

i agree with the cause

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Christyn C

I am signing because I totally support the necessary protect of marine life.

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Wan Yi L

The Marine sanctuary will definitely be in good hands, compared to corporate led, the intentions are pure and will definitely be for the environment i…

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Hasna K

I am signing because we need to protect our earth for our children and grandchildren

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Katherine B

I support the protection of marine life

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Lyle B

Because its the right think to do, save biodiversity and our future here on earth now.

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Cecilie H

There is always room for improvment.

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Traci Y

cosmic consciousness don't eat meat milk eggs honey Genesis 1:29,9:4

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Madison M

Marine Sanctuaries are so helpful.

item?.flag flag 4 weeks ago
Cecilia O

the navives protected the land before European settlers stole it and inevitably destroyed it- if theres any chance of saving our planet we need to giv…

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Jane N

we should be incorporating traditional knowledge into our planning.

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Tracy E

this is extremely important

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Pam B

The Native Americans who originally populated our country understood how to live in harmony with the earth. We abused them & have abused the earth, &…

item?.flag flag 1 month ago
Melinda M

This cause is so close to my heart!!!!And it is important for the furure of our beautiful planet.

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April G

This is the dream that i have been dreaming into reality for half a lifetime. please make it reality soon.

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Jason A

Shared by another petitioner so well, "Reparations start this way. What we have done to the indigineous tribes of the Americas is abyssmal and unforg…

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Matthew M

Reparations start this way. What we have done to the indigineous tribes of the Americas is abyssmal and unforgivable. We need to begin assisting with…

item?.flag flag 1 month ago
Carrellyn G

I just had a baby in May 2023 and I want him to have a planet that is a safe place to live!

item?.flag flag 1 month ago
Laura C

I care for wildlife.

item?.flag flag 1 month ago
Nathan T

America must do more to protect its ecosystems and honor its treaties with Native American tribes!

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Saladin A

i love nature

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Monique R

The very image of this speaks to the interconnectedness of land and sea...the very estuary is shaped as a tree.

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Maximilian K

We need to keep protecting more and more of the planet's flora and fauna and the ecosystems before us, the human race, keep on destroying it all with…

item?.flag flag 1 month ago
Michele K

indigenous people have been stewards of the Earth for millenia, and white people have taken the land, used and abused it without regard or understandi…

item?.flag flag 2 months ago
Marwin G

save planet

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