Within the crystal blue waters in the remote Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana are dense schools of fish, whale sharks, and vast mountains of salt and coral on the sea bottom.
A federal proposal to expand the existing sanctuary by almost triple – from the current 56 miles to the proposed 160 square miles, including 14 additional reefs – was released last Friday, beginning a three-month period of public comment. The rule had been more than three decades in the making, and if few objections are raised, the expansion will likely go into effect.
LINK (via: Courthouse News)
