Proposed Designation of
Lake Erie National Marine Sanctuary

NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is in the early stages of the process to designate a new national marine sanctuary in Lake Erie, adjacent to Pennsylvania. A sanctuary in the Pennsylvania portion of Lake Erie would enable NOAA to protect the region's maritime heritage resources, including a nationally significant collection of shipwrecks. NOAA started the sanctuary designation process in June 2023.

About the Area Under Consideration

The proposed Lake Erie National Marine Sanctuary would encompass approximately 740 square miles of Pennsylvania's Lake Erie waters, from the shoreline to the Canadian border. The approximately 75 miles of proposed sanctuary shoreline along Erie County contain six townships, two boroughs, and the city of Erie. The nomination proposes to exclude the Port of Erie from the sanctuary boundaries to ensure compatible use with shipping and other commercial activities.

This area represents a historically and culturally rich region where the long relationship between human activity and the maritime environment has created meaning and a sense of place, which is expressed and preserved in a wide variety of maritime cultural resources, from sacred places and cultural practices, to lighthouses and historic shipwrecks. Together, these tangible and intangible elements form a rich maritime cultural landscape. Lake Erie hosted one of the busiest inland waterways of the mid-19th century. Pennsylvania supported the Great Lakes' largest commercial fishing fleet during the 19th century, some of the earliest shipbuilding on the Great Lakes, and major naval shipyards during the War of 1812.

Nearly every type of vessel that operated on the Great Lakes during the 19th and 20th centuries  is represented in the area being considered for sanctuary designation. Based on historical records, 196 vessels may have sunk within the Pennsylvania waters of Lake Erie, and 35 of these shipwrecks have been identified. The known shipwrecks span from the 1838 steamboat Chesapeake to speedboats, tugs, barges, and workboats lost before 1940. The collection includes schooners, brigs, and barks; barges and schooner barges; dredges and sand suckers; fishing tugs and trawlers; and sidewheel steamboats and propellers. This area also includes the potential for submerged prehistoric sites and historic properties that may be of religious and cultural significance to Indigenous nations and tribes.

If designated, NOAA's activities would complement the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's efforts to preserve and interpret the area's importance, including its collection of nationally significant historic shipwrecks and other underwater cultural resources. With this designation, NOAA could:

• Use its research and monitoring assets to further locate, document, and monitor the area's significant cultural resources.
• Provide a national stage for promoting heritage tourism and recreation, which has the potential to increase economic opportunities in local coastal communities.
• Expand education and outreach activities to build public knowledge of and appreciation for Great Lakes maritime cultural heritage and ties to past and present uses.
• Prevent damage to irreplaceable historical sites by promoting the responsible use of sanctuary resources.

The Designation Process

NOAA initiated the sanctuary designation process for the proposed National Marine Sanctuary in Lake Erie on May 19, 2023, when it published a notice of intent to begin the process and solicited public comment. NOAA received almost 200 comments during the public comment period, May 19 to July 18, 2023. The Lake Erie team is using the comments NOAA received to develop a proposed sanctuary management plan, draft environmental impact statement, proposed rule and proposed sanctuary boundaries. NOAA will publish the draft designation documents, including a public comment period, and will consider public input before making a final decision.

NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary System

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries serves as the trustee for a network of underwater parks encompassing more than 629,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters from Washington state to the Florida Keys, and from Lake Huron to American Samoa. The network includes a system of 17 national marine sanctuaries and Papahānaumokuākea and Rose Atoll marine national monuments.

Through the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, NOAA can identify, designate, and protect areas of the marine and Great Lakes environment that have special national significance.