Yesterday, Joe Biden's administration announced the establishment of a new marine sanctuary along the central California coast. It will be the third largest in the United States, and jointly managed with the Northern Chumash Tribe that led the fight for the reserve for more than a decade. The native people consider this stretch of coastal waters to be their homeland. Their ancestors have lived here for more than 10,000 years. In their belief people passing to another life do so from Point Conception.
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The area was nominated for protection in 2015 with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Chumash people lived in villages along the coast and are estimated to have had a population of 20,000. After white settlement, that numbered dwindled from displacement and disease.
The waters are also home to kelp forests, sea otters, seals, dolphins and migratory whales. [see video] . Now, tribal members are being trained to collect samples for DNA analysis and monitor conditions in the reserve. Scientists at Stanford University are compiling a baseline survey of marine species living in the Sanctuary.
Seventeen marine sanctuaries in the US are protected from development such as oil and gas drilling and wind farms, but commercial fishing is allowed and regulated. The national system of sanctuaries was created in 1969 after the massive Santa Barbara oil spill. Chumash Heritage NMS is located between the Monterey Bay NMS and the Channel Islands NMS. The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is located on the reserve's northern boundary. The original proposal would have connected it to the Monterey Bay NMS to the north. Nevertheless, a reduced size still covers more than 4500 square miles. Support for conservations actions like this one, makes you a "radical left Marxist" in Don Legit's deranged opinion. So show him you don't care what he thinks and vote against him in November.
