Newest Marine Sanctuary Goes to Indigenous Stewards

A new national marine sanctuary off the Central California coast will make history as the first in the US to be led by Indigenous people, NPR reports. The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, to be managed by NOAA with input from Indigenous groups, is the result of a decade of advocacy by the Northern Chumash Tribe. "Being able to address climate change, use traditional ecological knowledge, and participate in co-management is Indigenous peoples' contribution to saving the planet," Violet Sage Walker, chairwoman of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, tells NPR. Walker's father, Fred Collins, first proposed the sanctuary in 2015 but died before seeing it become a reality.

It was then made a "top priority" under the Biden administration, reports the Los Angeles Times. "That's all my dad ever wanted, that people would know that we are the stewards of this land," Walker tells NPR. "In the hospital before he passed away, he said the sanctuary was one of the most important things he did and that he wanted me to finish it." The result is the third largest national marine sanctuary in the country, including more than 4,500 square miles of ocean from just south of Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County to the Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County, now protected from oil and gas drilling and undersea mining.

Part of the historical homeland of the Northern Chumash, the area includes "the suspected remains of ancient, submerged villages," per the Times. There are also several sacred sites, including Point Conception, "where we spiritually believe that all people leave this world into the next life," Walker tells NPR. Yet the sanctuary is smaller than initially proposed, excluding an area to the north that will act as a corridor for wind energy infrastructure, expected to help California reach its aim of 100% renewable electricity by 2045. "Compromises were made, but I think that's the way we also move forward with addressing climate change," says Walker. NOAA says it will later consider expanding the sanctuary to the size first proposed, a move supported by wind companies. (More California stories.)