Trump order invites questions on marine sanctuary

SHEBOYGAN - The future of a proposed shipwreck protection zone off parts of Wisconsin's east coast could be in question after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week barring the federal government from naming new National Marine Sanctuaries.

But there are still more questions than answers about how the order, aimed mainly at opening up more offshore oil and natural gas drilling, could impact efforts long underway in Wisconsin to name parts of Lake Michigan a federal sanctuary.

The order itself, signed last Friday, directs the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, “unless expressly required otherwise,” to refrain from designating or expanding protected marine sanctuary areas. There’s an exception for sites where the federal government has already conducted recent studies touching on possible energy sources in proposed sanctuaries.

Efforts to put more than 1,000 square miles of Lake Michigan, including almost all the waters off Sheboygan and Manitowoc counties, under federal sanctuary status could have wrapped up by later this year. It's not clear how directly the Trump order could impact those efforts. A Department of Commerce spokesperson told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin the order simply establishes a review process aimed at looking more closely at marine sanctuaries.

Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels was one of the first locally to point out the executive order’s potential to upend the designation efforts. In an opinion column this week, Nickels said Trump’s order “seriously threatens the possibility of designating our area as a National Marine Sanctuary.”

“This executive order is a direct blow to the work and efforts of many individuals, organizations and cities,” Nickels continued. “It’s also a direct blow to the huge potential for economic and tourist growth in our city.”

Sheboygan Mayor Mike Vandersteen said Wednesday he wasn’t familiar with details about the executive order. The city has advocated for the sanctuary designation in the past.

“We’ve already talked to our area legislators about our marine sanctuary and our desire to keep that on track,” Vandersteen said.

Federal officials have been working since 2015 to put a large swath of Lake Michigan’s waters under sanctuary status, mainly in an effort to preserve dozens of shipwrecks in the area. The effort was spurred by a request in 2014 by Gov. Scott Walker.

Some opponents have cried foul over the sanctuary proposal, and have mainly cited potential federal overreach in the sanctuary or possible impacts on local commercial fishing.

In signing the order, the White House last week said 94 percent of the country’s outer continental shelf area “are either off-limits to or not considered for oil and gas exploration and development.” That continental shelf — the portion of the ocean floor immediately off the country’s shoreline — could contain 90 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and 327 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the White House.

Reach McLean Bennett at 920-453-5133, mbennett2@gannett.com or @Bennett_McLean on Twitter.