What are "Marine Protected Areas"?

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are safehavens for sea creatures such as whales, sea turtles and seabirds. As caretakers of God's creation, we show reverence for special places marine life need -- not only to survive, but to thrive. "And God said, 'Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.' So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it." (Genesis 1:20)

The United States has many types of marine protected areas: marine national monuments, marine national parks, marine reserves, marine sanctuaries, and wildlife refuges. Marine national monuments are home to rare and at-risk species from humpback whales, green sea turtles, and puffins to deep-sea corals. Protecting special places in the ocean helps ensure that future generations will enjoy and benefit from them.  

Marine monuments continue the bipartisan tradition of permanently protecting natural and historic treasures for the future. Since Congress passed the Antiquities Act in 1906, giving the President the authority to create national monuments on our public lands and waters, 16 Presidents – eight from each party – have used it to preserve special places. Protecting America’s public lands and waters remains popular among Americans across regions and political affiliations.

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Download: Protecting & Restoring God's Marine Creation Resource

Northeast Canyons & Seamounts Marine National Monument

In 2016, faith communities celebrated the designation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the first marine national monument in the U.S. Atlantic. Read the official September 15, 2016 Presidential Proclamation establishing it. Located 150 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, our first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean protects 4,900 square miles of God's marine creation, nearly the size of Connecticut. Without protection, the area would have been at risk of future damage from mounting offshore industrial activity -- including expansion of commercial fishing, drilling and mining.

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Letters and Statements of Support

• Press Release Regarding Letter to Secretary Zinke in Support of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (10.29.18)
• Letter to Secretary Zinke: Petition of Support for Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (10.29.18)
• Letter to President Trump: Uphold the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (4.24.17)
• Press Release: Creation Justice Ministries applauds the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument designation (9.15.16)
• Religious leader statements of gratitude for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (9.15.16)
• Letter of gratitude for President Obama's ocean conservation leadership (8.28.2016)
• Religious Leaders of Rhode Island Call on Senators Whitehouse and Reed to Support the New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts national monument proposal (7.8.16)
• Religious Leaders of Connecticut Call on Senators Blumenthal and Murphy to Support the New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts national monument (7.8.16)
• Religious Leaders of Rhode Island and Connecticut call on the Obama Administration to establish the Coral Canyons and Seamounts national monument 7.8.16)
• Christian leaders call for designation of New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts as the first national monument in the Atlantic (4.15.16) 

See the educational event in Providence, RI to #SaveOceanTreasures

In 2016, Christian communities were instrumental in protecting God's marine creation by building the political will to establish the Atlantic Ocean's first marine monument. View the faith community teach-in and Blessing of the Waters at Save the Bay in Providence, Rhode Island.

2016 Christian Education Resource

2016 Factsheet

In the News: Christian Leaders for Protecting the Northeastern Canyons and Seamounts

Interfaith Community to Discuss Protection of Coastal Waters | Rick Snizek, Editor
Rhode Island Catholic March 3, 2016
Invoking Prayer, Not Politics, to Save Marine Treasures | John Howell
Warwick Beacon March 15, 2016
Marine National Monuments: Beneath the Surface, Sites Worth Preserving | Andy Smith, Journal Arts Writer
Providence Journal March 12, 2016
God's Underwater Creation Needs Our Stewardship | Rev. Dr. Don Anderson, Executive Director, Rhode Island State Council of Churches
Providence Journal March 19, 2016
A 7th Grader's Meeting with Senator Markey's Staff | Lydia Holleck, Lutherans Restoring Creation April 2016
Protecting Coral Canyons, Seamounts Will Feed Our Faith | Barbara Scott, Board Chair, Rhode Island State Council of Churches
Warwick Beacon June 30, 2016 (This piece also appeared in the Johnston Sunrise.)
Antiquities Act Works | Rev. Dr. Ian Mevorach, Co-Founder and Minister at Common Street Spiritual Center
Boston Herald July 11, 2016
We are Caretakers of God's Marine Creation | Rev. Tom Carr, Pastor of Second Baptist Church of Suffield
Hartford Courant August 11, 2016
Success!! From "Blessing the Waters" to Presidential Decree | Randy Yorston, Rhode Island State Council of Churches
Rhode Island State Council of Churches e-news September 16, 2016
Good Stewardship of Oceans is Good for All | Rev. Dr. Don Anderson, Rhode Island State Council of Churches
Providence Journal September 19, 2016
An Earth Day Action With Results: An 8th Grader Reflects on Her Role in Advocating for the Northeastern Canyons and Seamounts National Monument | Lydia Holleck of Harwich, Massachusetts -- Lutherans Restoring Creation October, 2016
Preserve Our Marine Monument | Rev. Ranjit Koshy Mathews, St. James Episcopal Church in New London, Connecticut
The Day July 16, 2017
Marine National Monument is in Danger | Rev. Dr. Don Anderson, Executive Director, Rhode Island state Council of Churches
Providence Journal July 7, 2017
Trump is Spitting In God's Face by Slashing National Monuments | Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts and Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ
Boston Globe, December 15, 20117
Don't Ruin Our Underwater Grand Canyon | Fr. Ranjit Koshy Mathews, St. James Episcopal Church in New London, CT
The Day, April 22, 2018

Under the Atlantic Ocean lie canyons as deep as the Grand Canyon and mounts higher than anything east of the Rockies. It is one of the most biodiverse areas in the Atlantic, where rare cold-water coral reefs more than a thousand years old make their home and nurture a myriad of species. Scientists are continuing to identify new species in this underwater ark for some of God’s most exotic and wondrous creatures. Here are a few of them.

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