Monterey Bay Issue Name:
Big Sur Coastal Ecosystem Plan

Presently, there are several local, state and federal agencies producing new or revised management plans affecting the Big Sur Coast. Public groups and individuals have raised a concern that all these agencies will develop separate plans for pieces of the Big Sur coastal ecosystem, rather than a single plan that identifies the related roles and interconnectedness among agencies and components of the ecosystem. MBNMS will work to identify a framework for a comprehensive multi-agency “Big Sur Coastal Ecosystem Action Plan”, integrating resource protection, education and outreach, and research and monitoring activities specifically for the Big Sur Area. Overlapping jurisdictions, different agency mandates and limited resources necessitate the development of a relationship bringing together multiple agencies for the common purpose of ecosystem management. The long-term goal will be one ecosystem plan, identifying all agency responsibilities and programs with identified areas of common management mandates and opportunities for coordination.

Outcomes and Products:
Representatives from the appropriate agencies will develop a framework by which this plan can be developed after adoption and implementation of the management plan. Specific components of the plan should identify opportunities and strategies for multi-agency resource management coordination including:

• Opportunities and strategies for coordinated coastal and marine resource education, research and monitoring programs.
• Strategies to develop and implement a discrete Emergency Response Plan (addressing hazardous spills, vessel groundings, etc.) for the Big Sur Coast
• Strategies to coordinate agency enforcement efforts
• Strategies to address watershed level resource protection, research, and monitoring.
• A program to address marine resource concerns related to Caltrans landslide disposal where deposition of material from landslides along the Sanctuary’s steep coastline can bury intertidal and subtidal habitat.