To: President Donald Trump
Obama: Declare a Marine Monument to Protect California from Offshore Oil
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Please take immediate action to expand the protected areas offshore of the northern California Coast by creating a marine monument through executive order that would ensure preservation of the ocean areas defined in Representative Lynn Woolsey’s bill HR 192.
The proposal to expand the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries from Marin north through the entire Sonoma Coast to Point Arena in southern Mendocino County outlined in HR 192 has wide support from California’s Governor, elected officials, local governments, the Marin County Board of Supervisors, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, fishing organizations, businesses, chambers of commerce and environmental groups.
The creation of a new marine monument would ensure that this vital area would be protected so it can continue to provide jobs for the coastal economy, the tourism industry, and the commercial and recreational fishing communities.
Act today to show support for the millions of California residents that supported you in the recent Presidential election by creating an expansive marine monument that will augment the successful National Marine Sanctuary system offshore of our state.
Why is this important?
The northern California coast is one of the most biologically diverse and productive marine ecosystems in the world thanks to protections in place by the National Marine Sanctuary system. However, a broadly supported local effort to expand the Sanctuary boundaries, Representative Lynn Woolsey’s bill (HR 192), has stalled in Congress.
Your support is needed today to urge President Barak Obama to declare a protective marine monument in the area proposed for Marine Sanctuary expansion by Woolsey in HR 192. Obama has the power of executive order to grant Californian’s this wonderful gift and provide Rep. Woolsey closure to her campaign to protect California’s Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino coasts from the threats of offshore oil drilling before she retires at the end of this term.
The plan to expand the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries from Marin north through the entire Sonoma Coast to Point Arena in southern Mendocino County has wide support from California elected officials, local governments, the Marin County Board of Supervisors, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, fishing organizations, businesses, chambers of commerce and environmental groups.
Expanding the National Marine Sanctuaries would prevent oil drilling and offer other protections to an area that is one of the most biologically productive regions in the entire world. It would ensure that this vital area would be protected so it can continue to provide jobs for the coastal economy, the tourism industry, and the commercial and recreational fishing communities.
President Obama has less that a month to act before Rep. Woolsey leaves office! Her replacement, Jared Huffman, is also a strong supporter of HR 192.
Obama can follow his predecessors in establishing marine monuments through executive order; in January 2000, President Bill Clinton established the California Coastal National Monument by executive order, protecting all the islets, reefs and rock outcroppings — including the Farallon Islands — along the 840-mile California coast; in 2006, President George Bush, inspired by his wife, Laura, created the Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument northwest of Hawaii and created the largest protected area in U.S. waters!
Join the Turtle Island Restoration Network in urging President Obama to take swift and decisive action to create a marine monument for the preservation of California’s valuable marine wildlife and the security of this ecosystem that we all depend on.