Open for comment · closes December 17
Shape the next management plan for Gray's Reef Sanctuary
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration · Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary
- What
- NOAA is rewriting the rules for Gray's Reef and needs public input now.
- Where
- Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary
- How much
- Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary's wildlife, water quality, and climate protections depend on what goals and rules end up in the revised management plan.
- By when
- Comments to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by December 17, 2026.Date from Federal Register ↗, read November 2, 2026.
What to ask forAll 4 points →
I support NOAA's comprehensive review of the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary management plan and urge the agency to use this process to strengthen protections for the sanctuary's wildlife and water quality.
Where these four lines come from
- WhatOur plain-English read of the Federal Register 2026-22287 ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words under Case.
- WhereThe places and states the notice names, as PLAN read them.
- How muchThe first sentence of our What’s at risk read of the notice; the whole read is under Case.
- By whenDecember 17, 2026, from Federal Register, the notice's DATES field (federalregister.gov API) ↗: “NOAA will consider all written comments in English that are received on or before 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time on December 17, 2026.”. Read November 2, 2026.
- Read from PLAN’s record November 2, 2026.
Two ways to be heard on this, and both count. Comment for the legal record, then call the members who answer to you.
Comment now4 holes in the agency’s own analysis
Make these points, in your own words
- I support NOAA's comprehensive review of the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary management plan and urge the agency to use this process to strengthen protections for the sanctuary's wildlife and water quality.
- Use this management plan revision to fully align Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary's goals with the purposes and policies of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act.
- This review is the right moment to address climate-related threats to Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary and ensure the revised plan reflects current conditions in the sanctuary.
- I urge NOAA to gather broad input from individuals, Tribes, and organizations during public meetings so the revised management plan reflects the full range of values at stake in Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary.
Say something only you can say. The law requires the agency to consider and respond to substantive comments, and specifics are what make a comment substantive.
Protective action worth supporting
NOAA is rewriting the rules for Gray's Reef and needs public input now.
What’s at risk
If we stay silent
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
In the agency’s own words
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is initiating a comprehensive review of the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary management plan, to evaluate progress toward implementing the goals of the sanctuary and to revise the management plan as necessary to fulfill the purposes and policies of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. NOAA is requesting information from individuals, companies, organizations, Tribes, and government agencies on the scope, types, and significance of issues that NOAA should address in its process to revise the management plan. In addition to receiving written comments, NOAA wil…
Who signs it
The notice names no signer PLAN could read. PLAN names a decision-maker only when the document names one.
The ground
This fight isn’t bound to a map place in PLAN’s record yet. The notice names Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary; none is a unit on the threatened lands map, so there’s no place page to open or watch.
The photograph on this page: Oculina coral, Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, Georgia (NOAA photo). It’s the country this decision sits in, not the site itself. More Than Just Parks.
In court on this ground
This fight isn’t bound to a land unit in PLAN’s record yet, so there are no court cases to show for its ground.
Who holds the vote
PLAN’s record doesn’t tie a member of Congress to this fight yet. The scorecard grades the votes and bills that decide public lands; nothing joins a vote or a bill to this decision, so there’s no member to name here without guessing.
See how your members vote ↗Calling your two senators and your representative is the Call door on this page.
Know an open comment period we are missing, or spotted a wrong deadline? .
More fights that need you
Go deeper, free
See how your members of Congress vote on public lands
Every representative, graded on the votes that decide the fate of parks, forests, and refuges.
Open ↗The mapSee the places under active threat
A live map of the parks, monuments, and wild country in the crosshairs right now.
Open ↗A wrong fact, a dead link, a form that wouldn’t take your letter: one tap and it comes to the people who build PLAN, with this fight attached.