Baldwin Leads Senate Resolution Recognizing National Marine Sanctuary Day

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) recognized the importance of national marine sanctuaries with a resolution designating October 23, 2023 as National Marine Sanctuary Day. The resolution highlights the role of national marine sanctuaries in increasing access to nature, protecting biodiversity, and boosting economic activity for coastal communities.

“In Wisconsin, the Great Lakes are essential to our way of life. Last year, I was proud to help establish the first national marine sanctuary in the Badger State to ensure that Wisconsinites can enjoy our pristine natural waters for generations to come," said Senator Baldwin. “This resolution will honor the critical role that marine sanctuaries play in preserving our abundant fresh waters, supporting local economies, and driving tourism for coastal communities.”

Senator Baldwin has fought to support national marine sanctuaries, successfully leading the charge to bring a National Marine Sanctuary to Wisconsin in 2021. In October 2013, Senator Baldwin urged NOAA to re-open the public nomination process for marine sanctuaries for the first time in 20 years. After the Administration announced in June 2014 that Americans would be given the opportunity to nominate nationally significant marine and Great Lakes areas as national marine sanctuaries, Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan proposal was submitted and Senator Baldwin called on NOAA to support their efforts. The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary was officially designated in 2021.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Baldwin has continued to advocate for Wisconsin’s Great Lakes by supporting robust funding for the National Marine Sanctuaries Program and by requesting federal funding for the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

The resolution was co-sponsored by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and is supported by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

"For over 50 years, national marine sanctuaries have engaged with local partners across the country to conserve and protect some of our nation's most spectacular marine habitats, wildlife, archaeological wonders, and cultural seascapes. Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary embodies the idea that conserving special places in the ocean and Great Lakes can unite communities and sustain local economies by providing opportunities for people to discover, recreate, and form lifelong connections with these special places," said Russ Green, Superintendent of Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary. "As the second sanctuary in the Great Lakes, and with more on the horizon, we are grateful for today's recognition and remain firmly committed to a vision of a locally-led, inclusive effort to be better stewards of the waters upon which we all depend."

"Our national marine sanctuaries are partnerships of people, and sources of solutions to the greatest challenges facing our ocean. From the Pacific to the East Coast, the Great Lakes to the Gulf, sanctuaries illuminate history, protect biodiversity, and fight climate change. I thank Senator Baldwin and the co-sponsors for their support of National Marine Sanctuary Day and protecting our waters," said National Marine Sanctuary Foundation President and CEO Joel R. Johnson.

Full text of the Senate Resolution is available here and below:

Designating October 23, 2023, as ‘‘National Marine Sanctuary Day’’.

Whereas, on October 23, 1972, the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.) became law and ushered in a new era of ocean conservation;

Whereas the National Marine Sanctuary System is a nationwide network that conserves spectacular oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes;

Whereas communities across the United States can nominate their most treasured marine and Great Lakes waters for consideration as national marine sanctuaries;

Whereas national marine sanctuaries protect biodiversity, safeguard extraordinary seascapes, historic shipwrecks, and sacred cultural places, and provide abundant recreational opportunities;

Whereas national marine sanctuaries seek opportunities to partner with indigenous governments and communities to achieve shared conservation goals and to support the care-taking of ecological resources and cultural sites of indigenous peoples;

Whereas national marine sanctuaries protect vital habitats for countless species of fish and wildlife, including many species that are listed as threatened or endangered;

Whereas the conservation of marine ecosystems is vital for healthy oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes, for addressing climate change, and for sustaining productive coastal economies;

Whereas the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and its partners work to protect and nurture the growth of the National Marine Sanctuary System;

Whereas national marine sanctuaries increase access to nature for all, support coastal communities, and generate billions of dollars annually in local communities by providing jobs in the United States, supporting commercial, Tribal, and recreational fisheries, bolstering tourism and recreation, engaging businesses in stewardship, and driving the growth of the blue economy;

Whereas national marine sanctuaries connect people and communities through science, education, United States history, recreation, and stewardship and inspire community-based solutions that help individuals understand and protect the spectacular underwater habitats, wildlife, archaeological resources, and cultural seascapes of the United States;

Whereas national marine sanctuaries are living laboratories that enable cooperative science and research that improves resource management and advances innovative public-private partnerships;

Whereas national marine sanctuaries can help make oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes more resilient by protecting ecosystems that sequester carbon, by safeguarding coastal communities from flooding and storms, and by protecting biodiversity;

Whereas the United States is a historic maritime Nation, and oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes are central to the way of life of the people of the United States;

Whereas engaging communities as stewards of these protected waters makes national marine sanctuaries unique and provides a comprehensive, ecosystem-based, highly participatory approach to managing and conserving marine and Great Lakes environments for current and future generations; and

Whereas October 23, 2023, is recognized as ‘‘National Marine Sanctuary Day’’ to increase awareness about the importance of the National Marine Sanctuary System and healthy oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes and to celebrate the many recreational opportunities available for the enjoyment of this network of protected waters: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate—

(1) designates October 23, 2023, as ‘‘National Marine Sanctuary Day’’;

(2) encourages the people of the United States and the world to responsibly visit, experience, recreate in, and support the treasured national marine sanctuaries of the United States;

(3) acknowledges the importance of national marine sanctuaries in supporting community resilience, protecting biodiversity, and increasing access to nature;

(4) recognizes the importance of national marine sanctuaries for their recreational opportunities and contributions to local and national economies across the United States;

(5) celebrates the ability of the National Marine Sanctuary System to protect nationally significant places in oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes;

(6) calls on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to partner with communities and to complete designations of new national marine sanctuaries; and

(7) encourages Federal agencies to balance priorities and work together to support the priorities of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.).

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