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Supervisors oppose marine sanctuary following contentious debate

February 9, 2017

SLO County Board of Supervisors 2017

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to oppose the creation of a Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary after listening to approximately 100 people voice their opinions for and against the proposed sanctuary.

Supervisors Debbie Arnold, John Peschong and Lynn Compton voted to approve sending the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) a statement of opposition. Supervisors Bruce Gibson and Adam Hill dissented.

In 2015, the Northern Chumash Tribal Council Chumash proposed the creation of a national marine sanctuary which would stretch 140 miles from Cambria to Santa Barbara. The NOAA is currently considering the request.

Opponents of the marine sanctuary, which includes commercial fisherman, several chambers of commerce, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and the Salinan Indian Tribe, expressed concerns the sanctuary would lead to cumbersome regulations that would harm the fishing industry. Opponents also voiced concerns about losing local control.

Proponents say the sanctuary is intended to protect the ecosystem off the Central Coast. The majority of sanctuary supporters said they believed the sanctuary is needed to protect the county from offshore oil drilling.

Marine sanctuaryCompton said she opposes offshore drilling, but that the proposed marine sanctuary was not the right method to prevent off-shore oil drilling. Compton then asked the board to support a bill to permanently ban offshore oil leases on the Central Coast. Rep. Salud Carbajal introduced the bill to Congress last week.

While supervisors Gibson and Hill voiced support of Carbajal’s bill, they argued against opposing the sanctuary. Both said that the opposition to the sanctuary was politically motivated and funded by big oil interests.

In Oct. 2015, the Chumash proposal was added to NOAA’s list of successful nominations. That is the first step toward becoming eligible for a marine sanctuary designation.

Before the sanctuary designation occurs, officials must draft a management plan for the area and allow the public to review it.

There are currently 14 national marine sanctuaries. The Chumash proposal is located in between two of them — the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.


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Reminder, Sanctuaries do not stop oil companies

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/oil-spill-threatens-vulnerable-marine-sanctuary/


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People are willing to give away their power constantly. Humans are a very docile and helpless race, and obviously they feel they need “authority figures” to decide what they need and do not need within their community. Oblivious to the connection between a healthy planet, and a healthy human race, they still sit back and complacently let a very small segment of the population decide what happens in their community–and what does not. They do this despite proven records that demonstrate these authority figures are frequently narcissists and sociopaths that, although high functioning; lack the compassion, honesty–and frankly–the conscience to make the right decisions for a community (or a nation for that matter).


These docile humans don’t have a good memory either. It gets wiped clean by daily television. If they were to shut their telvision off and set up soap box community forums–their communities would transform almost overnight. But they also would have to move from victim to responsbile adult.


Humans forget easit too. They forget the “leaders” and “men elevated to citizens of the year” who are now pedophiles serving prison sentences. They are easy to bamboozle. Unable to grasp that the common population shares a desire to have certain goals (clean water, safe neighborhoods, good schools, a clean environment), this docile race whines slightly when they get a nuclear power plant in their backyard-or a major drilling apparatus; but otherwise you barely hear a whimper. And yet, the number of citizens greatly out number these “authority figures” in mind boggling ratios.


Time to get off the “tit”, and grow up. You watch too much tv. Engage with your neighbors. Fire your politicians. Grab the wheel and be an adult who steers your community in the right direction. It may be your last chance.


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I propose that we establish a “Supervisor Sanctuary”…a holy place, free from the likes of Hill & Gibson. A special place where the citizens of SLO county can feel honestly represented and devoid of bureaucratic BS.


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Respectfully Pelican 1 — Why disparage a Sanctuary that would include Hill & Gibson?


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Huh?


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The outdated notion of a few psychopaths ruling large amounts of honest, tax paying citizens and making decisions that are void of even the most rudimentary thread of common sense; is a paradigm that needs to shift urgently. Humans are conditioned to have bad memories. If they had good memories they would look at that huge clean up in Avila and say “no f*&^ing way!” Where there are politicians–heady with power over others–you will find gaslighting and dishonesty in very large numbers.


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Thank you to Supervisors Arnold, Compton and Peschong for understanding the harm that this proposed sanctuary could do to our local economy.


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Sounds like the “the Northern Chumash Tribal Council Chumash” are twice the Chumash as “the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians” which opposed this…. ;-)


Glad we were able to delay (for now) the constant incessant need of the government to grow. Wouldn’t it be nice if adults started running things again?


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I was there to hear all of those articulate and emotionally charged speakers. Sadly they were on a mission to sell another employment opportunity and funding liability. As they spoke their toilet waters was being storm flushed into their so called sanctuary. Again it will be announced that swimming at the public beaches will be curtailed because of fecal waste. A real sanctuary for the benefit of the ocean would be designate it on the coastal land, moving all housing ten miles inland.


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Why do people that want to protect the ecosystem always leave human life out of the equation?


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Who was the sobbing woman afraid the ocean would be destroyed if we didn’t approve the Morro Bay Marine Sanctuary?


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Are you talking about the lady that was crying about the cosmic outers talking to her and that she needs to he heard. Man-o-man, that per soul needed her pills or therapy but for sure she was in trouble! Almost as good as the guy with the pirate ships (offshore drilling platforms) off the shores in Santa Barbara! Someone must have put out a special call for this meeting…


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Who in the Right Mind would want to give More Power to the Same Federal Government that had Obama and now Trump at the head of it!


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