Statement: Azul celebrates the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary Designation Announcement on Indigenous Peoples Day
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: October 14, 2024
CONTACT: media@azul.org
Azul celebrates the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary Designation Announcement on Indigenous Peoples Day
Sacramento, CA (October 14, 2024) – On Monday, October 14, during an Indigenous Peoples Day event and press conference, NOAA announced the designation documents for the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary (CHNMS) are “under inspection” and will be published 10/16 on the NOAA website for the Chumash Heritage Sanctuary. In response to this exciting announcement, Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, Azul’s Founder and Executive Director, released the following statement:
“We are delighted that the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary is entering the final stage of the designation process. This 40-year campaign led by the Northern Chumash Tribal Council and Tribal and community leaders like Chairwoman Violet Sage Walker is a testament to the power of community leadership. We applaud the White House for honoring this multi-generational, community-led effort to advance Tribal collaborative co-stewardship. According to our latest national poll, Latino voters in California overwhelmingly support the strongest protections for our ocean and support actions to ban offshore drilling for oil and natural gas. The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary accomplishes these expectations by banning new drilling for oil and natural gas while also prohibiting seabed mining. California’s unique and critically important coastal and marine ecosystems that are due to be protected within the boundaries of the proposed sanctuary will help our nation make progress on the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to leverage ocean-climate solutions against the impacts of climate change. The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary should inspire policymakers and conservation leaders to meaningfully engage historically excluded communities most impacted by environmental injustice to rectify harms and move towards a future with ocean justice.”
Related Materials
• 2024 National Azul Poll: Latinos and the Ocean
• Azul’s statement on the release of the final environmental impact statement for the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary
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Azul is an ocean justice organization working with Latinos to protect the ocean and coasts. Founded in 2011 to increase Latino participation in ocean conservation, Azul has long advocated for ocean justice and equity at the international and national levels, as well as in the state of California, where the organization is based.