A push to protect habitat along a 140 mile stretch of the Central Coast is moving forward.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) accepted Friday the nomination for a new Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
Back in May, NOAA had rejected the proposal saying it was incomplete. The Northern Chumash Tribal Council tried again with an updated version, and was successful.
The Marine Sanctuary, as proposed, would extend into the Pacific from Gaviota Creek in Santa Barbara County north to Santa Rosa Creek in Cambria. It would fill the gap between the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.
It's currently one of three successful nominations up for final consideration. The other two include a portion of the Potomac River in Maryland and a stretch of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin.