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1.ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK
Management of the Channel Islands
National Marine Sanctuary consists of three functions - resource
protection, research, and interpretation. A fourth function administration
- is an aspect that oversees all other functions since it establishes
who is responsible for implementing specific programs. The administrative
framework also ensures that all management activities are coordinated.
The Sanctuary Programs Division
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department
of Commerce, is responsible for overall management of the Channel
Islands National Marine Sanctuary. The Division coordinates its
on-site activities and cooperates with the California Department
of Fish and Game (CF&G) and the National Park Service (NPS). Both
these agencies are key participants in sanctuary management based
on cooperative agreements with the Sanctuary Programs Division.
Sanctuary Programs Division
The National Marine Sanctuary
Program is administered by the Sanctuary Programs Division. Program
regulations require that the Division prepare a management plan
for the sanctuary to ensure that proposals for resource protection,
research, and interpretation are coordinated and consistent with
sanctuary goals and objectives. The Sanctuary Programs Division
is responsible for implementing this plan through funding of on-site
operations, and inter-agency agreements.
The Sanctuary Programs Division
in Washington, D.C. develops, in collaboration with the Sanctuary
Manager, an annual budget setting out expenditures for program development,
operating costs, and staffing. Funding priorities are reviewed and
adjusted annually to reflect evolving conditions in the Channel
Islands National Marine Sanctuary and overall National Marine Sanctuary
Program priorities and requirements. The Sanctuary Programs Division
in Washington, D.C. is also responsible for establishing policies
and procedures in response to specific issues in the sanctuary.
The complete set of responsibilities held by this office are detailed
under resource protection, research, and interpretation later in
this section.
The Sanctuary Manager represents
the Sanctu-ary Programs Division at the Channel Islands National
Marine Sanctuary. The Sanctuary Manager's headquarters are located
at the Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center in Ventura.
Specific responsibilities of the Sanctuary Manager are highlighted
later in this section.
National Park Service
The NPS is responsible for managing
the Channel Islands National Park which includes the northern Channel
Islands (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and Anacapa) and Santa
Bar-bara Island. The NPS has administrative jurisdiction within
a one nautical mile boundary around the islands and undertakes enforcement
subject to an agreement with the CF&G.
Through a cooperative agreement
with the Sanctuary Programs Division, the NPS has assumed additional
responsibilities in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
relating to administration, research, interpretation, and resource
protection. The Channel Islands National Park staff assist the Sanctuary
Manager in developing and operating specific programs for these
functions. The Channel Islands National Park Superintendent also
assumes responsibility for day to day supervision of the Sanctuary
Manager.
California Department
of Fish and Game
The CF&G is responsible for
the management of living marine resources in California (Fish and
Game Code, Title 14 of the California Administrative Code). Management
in marine areas is aimed at the conservation, maintenance, and utilization
of living marine resources. This mandate extends throughout state
waters of California, including the state waters' portion of the
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. The CF&G's role in managing
living marine resourc-es has not been affected by the designation
of the sanctuary.
Through a cooperative agreement,
the Sanctuary Programs Division has provided funds to the CF&G to
supplement its enforcement of living marine resource regulations
within the sanctuary. The cooperative agreement between the Sanctuary
Programs Division and the CF&G also assigns a management role to
a State Sanctuary Coordinator/Manager (operating within the Marine
Resources Region of the CF&G). The State Sanctuary Coordinator/Manager
ensures that Sanctuary Programs Division activities are consistent
with CF&G's regulations, policies, and procedures for managing living
marine resources within state waters of the Sanctuary.
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