The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary turns 20 this year.

Lake Huron off the Northeast Michigan coast has been protected since 1981, when the state created the 290-square-mile Thunder Bay Underwater Preserve.

In 2000, the federal government created the National Marine Sanctuary, which — thanks to recent expansions — now covers 4,300 square miles and protects about 100 known historical shipwrecks in the bay and the lake.

The sanctuary was not without opposition. It took a lot of work and community engagement to bring the plan to fruition.

Since then, the sanctuary and the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, both overseen by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have become community treasures, drawing both tourists and researchers to our community. That improves both our economy and our quality of life in Northeast Michigan, in addition to the sanctuary’s role in protecting Lake Huron and the history stored on its bottoms.

As reported recently a special section in The News, the Thunder Bay sanctuary has now become a national model, inspiring efforts to create sanctuaries in Lake Michigan and elsewhere.

Happy birthday to the sanctuary, and congratulations to everyone involved in creating the sanctuary and bringing it to this important milestone.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)