Chumash Heritage marine sanctuary is not in SLO County’s best interest

The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary is not in the best interest of our community. A major concern is that we will have a limited partnership with a federal bureaucracy for important management issues. With the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, we found the managers were biased toward a federal agenda and insensitive to local concerns.

We have establishments that shouldn’t fall within a “sanctuary.” We have oil platforms from Point Sal to Point Conception, a nuclear power plant. We need to dredge Morro Bay Harbor. We have a desalination plant in Cambria. There are long-time families doing agriculture on our shores. We have an active commercial and recreational fishing port. We have an abalone farm and kelp harvesting. Also, we have permits for wave and wind energy being processed.

The Tribune ad by the Sierra Club is deceptive. There is not a proven direct relationship between a marine sanctuary and fishing or tourism income. We have a moratorium on oil drilling for at least another five years, and we have a very protective Coastal Commission. This will only benefit a few; the rest of us are just going to be saddled with unnecessary paperwork, fees, meetings and regulations.

This story was originally published December 16, 2016 at 8:51 PM with the headline "Chumash Heritage marine sanctuary is not in SLO County’s best interest."