Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations act, 2016--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, this week I was pleased to hear some good news about a very special place in the Great Lakes. On the bottom of Lake Michigan, right off the shores of Wisconsin, lies an incredible collection of shipwrecks. People across the Great Lakes region, especially in Wisconsin but also in my home State of Michigan and elsewhere, recognize that this stretch of Lake Michigan is a national treasure because of its historical significance and its great beauty.

Through a bottom-up community-driven process, many people teamed up to put together a proposal to protect this area as a National Marine Sanctuary. The Obama administration listened, and this week they announced they will be moving forward to establish a Wisconsin-Lake Michigan National Marine Sanctuary.

A National Marine Sanctuary designation, as Michiganders know from firsthand experience, helps to improve access and resources for special maritime places in order to enhance visitor access and preserve irreplaceable resources for future generations.

The Wisconsin-Lake Michigan sanctuary proposal would preserve an 875-square-mile area of Lake Michigan with waters extending from Port Washington to Two Rivers. As Michiganders watch a pure Michigan sunset over Lake Michigan on beaches from Ludington south to Muskegon, the Sun would set over the new sanctuary directly across the lake. The new sanctuary has 29 known shipwrecks, 15 of which are listed in the National Registry of Historic Places, with many of those wrecks almost completely intact--a very rare occurrence. Research shows the proposed sanctuary includes 123 reported vessel losses, so there are many more wrecks to discover in these waters.

Local community leaders in Wisconsin deserve much of the credit for building the support needed to move this proposal forward, but it would not have made it to this point without the tireless work of my friend and colleague Senator Baldwin of Wisconsin.

In 2013, Senator Baldwin urged the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, to reopen the public nomination process for the first time in 20 years, and she continues to advocate for additional funding for national marine sanctuaries through her role on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Earlier this year, I was pleased to introduce a bill with Senator Baldwin and my good friend Senator Stabenow called the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Assessment Act, which would require NOAA to review maritime heritage resources in the Great Lakes and suggest areas worthy of designation.

In addition, I teamed up with Senator Baldwin to introduce the Waterfront Community Revitalization and Resiliency Act, which can work hand in hand with marine sanctuaries to boost the local economies of waterfront communities across the Great Lakes and the country. The bill would improve areas along the water to increase access to public space, grow business development, and create a new vision for waterfronts that can boost tourism, recreation, and small business.

The administration also identified another new potential sanctuary, the Mallows Bay--Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary, which is a 14-square-mile stretch of the tidal Potomac River with the largest ``ghost fleet'' of World War I wooden steamship wrecks and one of the most ecologically valuable waterscapes and landscapes in Maryland.

These two sanctuary proposals, if finalized, would be the first sanctuaries established since 2000 and would be just the 15th and 16th additions to the national marine sanctuaries network. The last addition to the network was in 2000, and that was Michigan's very own Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve, located in Lake Huron, with the main NOAA office based in the great city of Alpena. The Thunder Bay sanctuary is a remarkable maritime treasure. It is known as Shipwreck Alley. Throughout history, it has been one of the most highly traveled and dangerous parts of the Great Lakes system. Nearly 100 shipwrecks have been discovered within the sanctuary, with a wide range of vessel types that makes the collection nationally significant.

The cold, clean, fresh water of the Great Lakes keeps shipwrecks in excellent condition, and the archaeological research that is conducted at Thunder Bay is world class.

Pictured here is the helm of the F.T. Barney, a two-masted schooner located at a depth of 160 feet near Rogers City. On October 23, 1868, the F.T. Barney was en route from Cleveland to Milwaukee with a cargo of coal when it was run into by the schooner T.J. Bronson. The ship sank in less than 2 minutes in very deep water. The wreck is one of the most complete you will find anywhere, with masts and deck equipment still in place.

Another impressive wreck, lying at a depth of only 18 feet near Alpena, is the wooden steam barge Monohansett. On November 23 of 1907, the ship burned at the water's edge at Thunder Bay Island. Today, the Monohansett's wreck lies in three sections. The stern portion has hull features, propeller, and shaft all in place, and the boiler is nearby.

You can still go up to Alpena and take a glass-bottom boat to tour these wrecks and see the crystal waters of Lake Huron, and you can even snorkel or scuba dive amongst some of the most well-preserved ships. It is truly a one-of-a-kind and once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Not only is Thunder Bay the only freshwater marine sanctuary among the 14 marine-protected areas--at least until these two new proposals--but it is unique in that it is also a State underwater preserve. It is jointly managed by NOAA and the State of Michigan. A joint management committee makes major policy, budget, and management decisions, and an advisory council represents the community's interests. It is part of the local community up north, and it is refreshing to see local, State, and Federal officials all working together to protect a national treasure.

The Thunder Bay sanctuary is a major tourist draw and economic driver for the area, and the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena attracts out-of-State visitors and educates school groups.

Over the last decade or so, the benefits of preserving Thunder Bay were widely recognized, and a process was set in motion to expand the boundaries of the sanctuary. In September of 2014, after holding many meetings and completing a thorough environmental impact statement, Thunder Bay was expanded from 448 square miles to 4,300 square miles, driven by strong public and congressional support. This map shows the original boundaries and the new expanded boundaries. The process was successful in part because of the work of Senator Stabenow, and, of course, my predecessor, Senator Carl Levin, who was a champion for the Great Lakes every day of his long service here in the Senate.

As we move forward to protect the Great Lakes and other valuable marine resources in the Great Lakes and across the country, we must devote robust resources to these deserving places. Many agencies, including NOAA, are operating on shoestring budgets. While their work is impressive as they stretch their funding, the benefits these designations bring to communities such as Alpena and the surrounding area are sustainable and provide a foundation for the local economy.

As a member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, with jurisdiction over NOAA and the National Marine Sanctuary System, I am committed to working every day on protecting the Great Lakes and the fantastic waters and marine places within the boundaries of the United States of America.

I yield the floor.

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