Save our seas and support our central coast – add your name to this campaign!

Sign the petition: https://www.addup.org/campaigns/protect-californias-central-coast-create-a-national-marine-sanctuary

Learn more: https://chumashsanctuary.com/

The Northern Chumash Tribal Council (NCTC), CA Central Coast Marine Sanctuary Alliance, Santa Lucia Chapter of Sierra Club, San Luis Obispo Chapter of Surfrider Foundation, COAST (Citizens Opposed to Acoustic Seismic Testing) would like to invite your organization to support our Indigenous proposed California Central Coast Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.

NCTC has started grassroots collaboration between the Marine Sanctuary Alliance (MSA), Santa Lucia Chapter of Sierra Club, SLO Chapter of Surfrider Foundation, COAST, and others, for this great project and we invite your support. We would like to add your organization’s name to the top of this letter that will be included with the marine sanctuary proposal.

Our offshore waters have qualified for sanctuary designation since 1990. Now, with new marine sanctuaries possible, we propose the CA Central Coast Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. Please read the proposed designation document at the end of this introduction letter.

To achieve the best water quality, vibrant marine ecosystems, and to protect the Chumash cultural heritage, our efforts are focused to fill the unprotected gap between the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Chumash villages and cultural heritage lie submerged within the proposed sanctuary area as well as along the shoreline, many continuously occupied for over 10,000 years.

Sanctuary benefits for the Indigenous Community and the Community of San Luis Obispo California:

• *Strengthen the security for and education of Chumash Tribal Sacred Sites
• *Provide a legacy of thrivability in our currently healthy local coastal waters
• *Preserve our unique and significant coastal ecosystems
• *Strengthen the tourism-based economy of the Central Coast
• *Bring funding for needed marine research
• *Enhance opportunities for local recreation
• *No offshore oil drilling
• *No acoustic testing