Your voice is needed to gain long-term protections for important feeding and migrating waters for the endangered Pacific leatherback sea turtles along the West Coast of the U.S. Please take action by writing in support of critical habitat for leatherbacks by March 8.

In response to Turtle Island Restoration Network%u2019s 2007 petition and 2009 lawsuit, NOAA has just announced its proposal to designate 70,600 square miles in areas offshore of California, Oregon, and Washington as critical habitat for the endangered leatherback sea turtle.

Your public comments should strongly support this proposal, and call for additional improvements!

Keep fishing hooks out of turtle habitat!  Entanglement in commercial fishing gear in the swordfish and tuna fleets is a leading killer of leatherbacks, but the new critical habitat proposal fails to address commercial fishery practices.  Countless sea creatures are entangled and killed each year as bycatch in fishing gear, including sea turtles, clear evidence that commercial fishing CAN and DOES alter the quality of the leatherback%u2019s habitat.

Expand and Protect Leatherback Habitat!  Expansion of the proposed critical habitat NOW to include ALL leatherback migration and foraging areas along U.S. shores will provide the greatest level of protection from extinction for this iconic sea turtle. 

Please sign-on to our petition and send a handwritten letter, fax, or electronic submission by March 8.

SAMPLE LETTER - BODY of Petition
I strongly support creating critical habitat for leatherback sea turtles. Thank you for acting on the petition for leatherback critical habitat from the Sea Turtle Restoration Project and its allies and thank you for proposing the first designation of leatherback critical habitat in continental U.S. waters.

However, the current proposal falls short of providing all adequate protective measures needed to ensure safe migration and foraging conditions. I urge NOAA to strengthen it by addressing the threats from commercial fisheries, especially longline fishing and drift-gill net fishing, both of which are deadly to sea turtles. Derelict gear from both these fisheries also directly impact habitat when leatherbacks become entangled, drown, or are seriously injured. These threats are direct and also impede safe passage for the species during their migration. We understand that reversing the extinction trajectory for the Pacific leatherback will require international cooperation. The US can become an international leader in efforts to recover this species by recognizing the impacts of fisheries in this critical habitat designation, and encouraging other nations to take similar actions in their sovereign waters.

Other activities that I believe have negative impacts on leatherback sea turtles that NOAA must consider are the effects of non-point source pollutants and poor water quality, permanent installations of wind energy and natural gas projects, effects of ocean acidification, and deadly strikes by commercial vessel traffic.

We also urge NOAA to include the entire current %u201CLeatherback Conservation Area%u201D in its critical habitat designation to provide maximum protection and safe passage. The current proposal leaves a gaping hole in the protected area, separating the proposed northern and southern feeding areas that leatherbacks are highly likely to migrate through as they forage on their drifting prey.


The critically endangered Pacific leatherback needs the strongest protection possible in this designated critical habitat if the species is to survive and recover.

Thank you for your consideration.

I strongly support creating critical habitat for leatherback sea turtles. Thank you for acting on the petition for leatherback critical habitat from the Sea Turtle Restoration Project and its allies and thank you for proposing the first designation of leatherback critical habitat in continental U.S. waters.

However, the current proposal falls short of providing all adequate protective measures needed to ensure safe migration and foraging conditions. I urge NOAA to strengthen it by addressing the threats from commercial fisheries, especially longline fishing and drift-gill net fishing, both of which are deadly to sea turtles. Derelict gear from both these fisheries also directly impact habitat when leatherbacks become entangled, drown, or are seriously injured. These threats are direct and also impede safe passage for the species during their migration. We understand that reversing the extinction trajectory for the Pacific leatherback will require international cooperation. The US can become an international leader in efforts to recover this species by recognizing the impacts of fisheries in this critical habitat designation, and encouraging other nations to take similar actions in their sovereign waters.

Other activities that I believe have negative impacts on leatherback sea turtles that NOAA must consider are the effects of non-point source pollutants and poor water quality, permanent installations of wind energy and natural gas projects, effects of ocean acidification, and deadly strikes by commercial vessel traffic.

We also urge NOAA to include the entire current %u201CLeatherback Conservation Area%u201D in its critical habitat designation to provide maximum protection and safe passage. The current proposal leaves a gaping hole in the protected area, separating the proposed northern and southern feeding areas that leatherbacks are highly likely to migrate through as they forage on their drifting prey.


The critically endangered Pacific leatherback needs the strongest protection possible in this designated critical habitat if the species is to survive and recover.

Thank you for your consideration.