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The National Marine Sanctuary Program is fundamentally well
conceived and is beginning to demonstrate notable successes
in protecting valuable parts of the ocean. However, many close
observers of, and some participants in, the program feel that
it is uncertain, ineffective, and pitifully small. This judgment
overlooks what the program has accomplished in the 10 years
since it began placing permanent federal managers at the sites.
Perhaps unavoidably, the program has spent a great deal of
energy in the past 10 years on planning and building its institutional
capacity. Some sanctuaries are still without "defenses"-that
is, without enough resources, authority, or community support
to protect their valuable resources. Most sanctuary managers
and staff have also drifted into an unnecessary and unproductive
posture of fearing a strong sanctuary advisory council.
It is time for the sanctuary program to focus attention on
results rather than on process and to build more confident
and trusting relationships with communities. Specifically,
the program could:
- Take steps to protect marine resources
in the sanctuaries more effectively:
- make sanctuaries more visible to
the public by erecting informative signs, building visitor
centers, and working with museums, whale-watching companies,
nonprofits with volunteers, and other groups to create a
more prominent presence in the community and on the water
- use sanctuary advisory councils
and working groups as vehicles to engage the local community
in designing marine reserves where fishing or other activities
is prohibited, where appropriate
- clarify sanctuaries' strategies
for public education by setting priorities for particular
audiences and approaches that hold the most promise for
protecting sanctuary resources
- use the mystique that comes with
the designation "sanctuary" to educate the public,
shape agency policies, and mobilize resources to address
problems that affect conditions within the sanctuary
* Work more confidently
with communities:
- make public involvement part of
the mission of the sanctuaries
- clarify the roles and responsibilities
of sanctuary councils
- welcome councils as active partners
rather than holding them at arm's length
- train sanctuary managers to work
with strong-minded boards of advisers
- help build stronger nonprofit "friends
of the sanctuary" organizations
* Manage for results:
- focus on protecting resources in
the existing 12 (and soon to be 13) sanctuaries
- emphasize results rather than planning,
capacity-building, or other processes
- publish a "state of the sanctuaries"
report at least every three years that analyzes threats
and agency actions
- clearly state to Congress and the
public whether the program has adequate resources to protect
each sanctuary from important threats
- work with sanctuary councils to
establish annual work plans that set priorities and make
strategic choices
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Board of Directors Meeting
May 31-June 3, 2006
Las Vegas, Nevada
Academy Calendar
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Academy Fellow Celebrates Fifty Years of Public Causes
Academy Fellow Brian O’Connell shares the priceless lessons he has learned during a lifetime of third sector experience in Fifty Years in Public Causes: Stories from a Road Less Traveled. O’Connell’s memoir traces his remarkable life in public service, from his early forays in the non-profit sector to his ascendancy as national director of the Mental Health Association, and then as founder of the Independent Sector.
Told through fascinating personal stories, O’Connell’s memoir includes a strong mandate to his successors in public service. He offers his readers the lessons he would emphasize for those who take the journey on that road less traveled.
Buy Fifty Years in Public Causes: Stories from a Road Less Traveled.
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