Protect Point Sal
Safeguarding Ocean Wildlife | Advancing Tribal Co-Stewardship
Photo: Erin Eastwood
Photo: Nicole LaRoche/USGS
Why Protect Point Sal
North of Point Conception lies an extraordinary coastal landscape, rich in both cultural and ecological significance. The proposed Point Sal State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) would help protect a healthy, undeveloped stretch of California’s coast through a balanced approach that advances Tribal co-stewardship, conserves marine life, and safeguards public access. The Northern Chumash Tribal Council and the Natural Resources Defense Council co-sponsor the petition.
Sign the petition to protect Point Sal
Protecting an Extraordinary Place
Located between Vandenberg Space Force Base and Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve, the proposed SMCA would protect more than nine square miles of ocean and approximately four miles of coastline.
Point Sal’s rugged coastline, thriving kelp forests, rocky reefs, sandy beaches, and productive ocean waters support an extraordinary diversity of marine life while offering exceptional opportunities for recreation, wildlife viewing, and scientific research.
Photo: Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management
Protecting Critical Habitat
Point Sal’s waters support kelp forests, rocky reefs, tide pools, sandy beaches, a migratory whale corridor, seabird and sea lion habitat at Lion Rock, and a larval retention zone where young marine life can develop before replenishing surrounding waters.
Because Point Sal remains remote and largely undeveloped, protecting its adjacent waters would build on decades of land conservation to create a connected coastal landscape protected across both land and sea.
As California's coast faces increasing pressures from climate change and expanding ocean uses, protecting healthy, undeveloped places like Point Sal will help ensure they remain resilient for future generations.
Photo: Mogens Trolle/Getty Images
Honoring Chumash Stewardship
Point Sal lies within the ancestral homeland of the Chumash people, whose connection to these lands and waters holds deep cultural significance and spans more than 10,000 years.
A defining feature of the proposal is its call for formal Tribal co-stewardship. If approved, the Point Sal SMCA would advance collaborative stewardship between the State of California, the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, and other interested Tribes, recognizing the importance of Tribal knowledge, leadership, and the continued stewardship of these ancestral waters.
Following designation, the marine protected area would be renamed with a Chumash place name through Tribal consultation.
Photo: Bella Sullivan/NRDC
A Healthy Seascape for All to Enjoy
The proposed SMCA would safeguard Point Sal’s marine ecosystem while preserving public access and many opportunities to enjoy the coast. Visitors would continue to enjoy swimming, surfing, snorkeling, diving, kayaking, boating, wildlife viewing, photography, and other non-extractive recreational activities.
Shore-based hook-and-line fishing for finfish would continue, including traditional, ceremonial, cultural, and subsistence fishing by all Chumash people, regardless of federal recognition status.
The proposal would prohibit oil and gas drilling, dredging, and commercial and boat-based recreational fishing.
Now is the Time to Act
We need your help to protect this special place and restore Tribal stewardship to a portion of Chumash ancestral waters!
Speak in support at the October 15 Fish and Game Commission meeting
Write a letter of support and email it to fgc@fgc.ca.gov
Sign the petition to protect Point Sal
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California is undertaking its first-ever adaptive management process for the Marine Protected Area Network, informed by lessons learned from the first Decadal Management Review.
As part of that, the California Fish and Game Commission invited the public to submit proposals for changes to the network in 2023. Now, proposals such as the Point Sal State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) are being considered.
Since submitting the proposal, partners have held more than 100 meetings and engagement events with Tribes, stakeholders, and community members, and have adapted the proposal to reflect that input—including feedback from Tribal communities and recreational interests.
The California Fish and Game Commission will decide whether to approve or deny the Point Sal SMCA proposal this October. Please consider joining the October 15 meeting in person or virtually to voice your support.
Photo: Douglas Klug/Getty Images