News Photo by Kayla Wikaryasz On Thursday, NMC students are seen presenting their capstone project to the TBNMS Advisory Council. The council met Thursday evening to discuss various projects and budgeting concerns that are happening within TBNMS and ONMS.

ALPENA — The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (TBNMS) Advisory Council met on Thursday night to discuss current projects and budgeting. Some concerns were raised about the 2026 Fiscal Year budget.

John Armor, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) director of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS), spoke to the advisory council and the public in attendance about budget changes that may affect the way that ONMS approaches certain projects.

ONMS has proposed $67 million for operating costs and an additional $4 million for construction in their 2025 Fiscal Year budget, according to Armor. He said this budget was based on the 2024 Fiscal Year budget. Armor told the advisory council that he was pleased with that budget.

“That really allows us to do some really great things across the sanctuary system,” Armor said. “Of course, we could do a lot more with more, but…that’s a solid budget.”

Armor went on to explain that ONMS is currently in the process of formulating the next budget for the 2026 Fiscal year.

“The federal government is certainly undergoing some fairly significant reductions in our workforce, and the ONMS is not exempt from that,” Armor said. “So we are having to really think differently about what we can accomplish with a much leaner federal workforce.”

Due to a smaller budget, some directors and superintendents have stepped away from their roles voluntarily in anticipation of the aforementioned budget concerns, opting for early retirement. Currently, Armor explained that there are 11 supervisors running 18 sanctuaries. Armor said that Jeff Gray, superintendent of TBNMS, has taken over more “supervisorial responsibilities” and will also take on responsibilities at the Lake Ontario sanctuary.

“This is (an) all-hands-on-deck moment,” Armor said, in regards to staffing changes.

However, Armor doubled down on the mission of ONMS and how TBNMS has been a success story.

“(TBNMS) has been a model in the Great Lakes for certain, if not around the entire country,” Armor said. “But I can almost guarantee you that if the TBNMS story didn’t play out the way it did over the last 25 years, there would not be a Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, and there would not be a Lake Ontario Sanctuary…I think that story is so powerful to people. It’s so eye-opening.”

In other business, this month’s meeting centered around updates on current projects that the sanctuary is involved in, which include a veteran scuba diving program, a community survey, the current Lakebed 2030 mapping efforts, continued partnership with schools, and mooring buoy installments.

Stephanie Gandulla highlighted Warfighter Scuba, a nonprofit of scuba divers that is coming to TBNMS to teach wounded veterans, with varying disabilities, how to scuba dive. She explained that scuba diving can be a healing experience for individuals.

“It really is a therapeutic thing to be underwater, and that’s what they’re embracing with this program,” Gandulla said.

Nick Schuelke, a Great Lakes social scientist with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, walked through a community survey that the foundation will be conducting from May to October. In this survey, participants will be asked to locate specific locations in the sanctuary area and what values they attribute to them (e.g., recreation, community, scientific, et cetera).

Schuelke explained that the goal is to better understand what activities are important to both community members and tourists. He said that it will also help TBNMS better manage its facility.

Gray explained that 10 mooring buoys have been placed within the sanctuary waters. He further explained that with the help of divers from NOAA, TBNMS is able to free up its own divers for other projects they are working on.

During the meeting, Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) students visiting TBNMS for their capstone project presented their work to the advisory council and explained what they have learned while working with hydrographers at TBNMS.

Gray concluded the meeting by discussing a video project that will be ongoing to document notable shipwrecks in the sanctuary for the public to view.