Community Leaders Speak Up for Marine Sanctuaries on Capitol Hill
Sanctuary community leaders pictured on the steps of the Capitol. From left to right: Alan Lee, Noah Chesnin (proposed Hudson Canyon National Marine Sanctuary), Shane Cantrell (Flower Garden Banks), Andrew Struck (Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast), Kat Hoyt (Gray’s Reef), Joel R. Johnson, Jenny Larsen (National Marine Sanctuary Foundation), Colin Sheldon (proposed Hudson Canyon National Marine Sanctuary), and Jake Emmert (Flower Garden Banks). Not pictured: Al Moe (Thunder Bay) and Tess Mackey (National Marine Sanctuary Foundation).
As Congress decides the country’s annual budget for 2026, there has never been a more critical moment to speak up for our national marine sanctuaries and the communities that depend on them. During the first week of April, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation asked community leaders from across the country to “fly-in” to DC and meet with their elected officials to share the impact marine sanctuaries have on their lives, their community, and local businesses. Marine sanctuary users and leaders representing seven states and five national marine sanctuaries took to Capitol Hill to urge elected officials to ensure investments in and sound policies for our National Marine Sanctuary System.
We know that the environmental, economic, and cultural importance of national marine sanctuaries on our coastal communities and the country at large cannot be understated. Here’s what our local community leaders had to say about why marine sanctuaries are so important to them, their livelihoods, and the places they call home:
Texas (Flower Garden Banks)
Jake Emmert, Director of Marine Operations, Moody Gardens Aquarium
“Sanctuaries do a lot with a little….so you know, potential funding cuts would most likely have a dramatic effect on their ability to keep doing what they’re doing…the sanctuary system is always challenged with doing more with what they have and they do a phenomenal job with that. So I think we should be challenged to see the sanctuary system continuing to do the work that they’re able to do in the manner that they’re doing it if they were to have changes in funding.”
Captain Shane Cantrell, Galveston Sea Ventures, Galveston, TX
“Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary means a lot to my business in that we offer fishing charters out there, but we also do research with the sanctuaries and local universities…I’m most worried about the ability to leverage partnerships that we spent years cultivating and be able to compound the investments that are done in Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and to be able to leverage those with universities and other research organizations and local businesses to make a broader impact for the Texas and Louisiana communities.
“Flower Garden Banks is a truly special place. It is home to some of the healthiest coral reef formations in the entire world. And that should be something that is protected and special – it serves as a beacon of hope for other areas that are having various threats to their reefs and provides an opportunity for us to create a better future with our reefs and banks in the northwest Gulf.”
Michigan (Thunder Bay)
Al Moe, Friends of Thunder Bay
“[Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary has] been an economic driver for our community…A significant amount of things have been brought to the community that if funding were restricted…we would lose some high impact items for our community.”
Wisconsin (Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast)
Andrew Struck, Director, Parks and Planning, Ozaukee County
“Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary has a special meaning for all the communities that are involved. We have four communities, four counties that all came together for the designation. It’s incredible that power of collaboration…it’s really bringing those communities together and recognizing the history of the Great Lakes…We’re at a really critical stage – three years in, we’ve seen a tremendous amount of collaboration and also private investment and public investment …and so I think it would be really devastating, frankly, if the backbone of that funding that brought us all together for a common purpose was not there to support it and support all the local investment we’ve seen.”
Georgia (Gray’s Reef)
Kat Hoyt, President and CEO, Darien-McIntosh County Chamber of Commerce
“Our county is so impacted by commercial recreational fishing along with ecotourism and Gray’s Reef plays a huge part in that. They preserve the reef along the coast of Georgia, which creates this incredible environment for fishing. It’s a great ecotourism destination and also it helps protect our coast from storms…The sanctuary helps bolster so much in our community. They give resources and research and support to not only our community, the state of Georgia, but also to our local economy. We have fishing guides that take people out to the reef. We have commercial fishermen who depend on those fish that are nesting there and growing there. All of those play a huge part in our economy.”
Marine sanctuaries are of the People, by the People, and for the People. At the Foundation we work to empower the “People” to use their voices to convey the essential roles national marine sanctuaries play in their lives to their elected officials. In this time of uncertainty, we need marine sanctuary users to use the most powerful tool we have as constituents: Telling our members of Congress why we care.
Good news! The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation has more opportunities for you to utilize this tool for marine sanctuaries. Will you #StandUpforSanctuaries? Join us before it’s too late.
- National Marine Sanctuary District Days provides all the resources you need to have successful meetings with your members of Congress. By participating in this event, you can ensure that your voice is heard during a critical time for national marine sanctuaries in the federal funding process. Sign up here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/national-marine-sanctuary-district-days
- Email lawmakers and urge them to support essential funding for our national marine sanctuaries. Click the link to send a letter directly to your Members of Congress. https://marinesanctuary.org/campaign/tell-congress-to-fund-our-national-marine-sanctuaries/