Comment from Michiko Martin

Sanctuaries embody our nation’s commitment to preserve the best of our ocean and Great Lakes for future generations, and I strongly support NOAA’s proposed rule (NOAA-NOS-2013-0091) to re-establish a sanctuary nomination process. I appreciate the extent to which coastal communities have a controlling influence on sanctuary priorities, and I support the development of a public sanctuary nomination process as a critical element of the sanctuary system’s intensive public engagement effort. This proposed rule brings our nation one step closer to restoring to the public a meaningful opportunity to identify nationally significant ocean and Great Lakes areas and formally propose that protections be enacted for them as national marine sanctuaries. Since 1995, community leaders, academics, elected officials, and concerned citizens have requested that NOAA move to designate new sanctuaries in coastal communities across the nation, and I am pleased that the agency is seeking to remedy this situation by re-establishing a formal, public process for these inquiries.