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Dear John,
Earth Week is a great time to tell you this story about ELPC’s successful four-year campaign to protect the wonderful Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Lake Huron.
In 2017, the Trump administration’s Department of Commerce officially announced its “review,” proposing to cut the size of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary by 90%, and open it up to oil and gas drilling. ELPC and our colleagues immediately started building public and media attention, filed legal comments, engaged bipartisan federal and state policymakers, and built a strong coalition and campaign to oppose this misguided proposal. Now, we’ve won.
Two weeks ago, John Minor, the NOAA Director of National Marine Sanctuaries, responded positively to the ELPC-coordinated letter from 16 Great Lakes colleague environmental and conservation organizations. We requested that the Commerce Department officially withdraw and close the Trump administration’s review. They’ve now done exactly that. The Biden administration rescinded the Trump Executive Order, which provided the legal basis for the review, and the misguided proposal is now withdrawn and ended. The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is protected!
Want to know how this all happened and why? Read the full story here.
This Great Lakes victory sets a national precedent, leveraging protection for 10 other National Marine Sanctuaries and National Marine Monuments threatened with cuts and drilling. But there is much more Great Lakes protection and restoration work to be done. Support ELPC today and your donation will be doubled thanks to our $25,000 Earth Week Match.
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