The sanctuary program sits at the bottom of a very long chain of command, which often is more interested in its own preservation than in tapping the excitement that the sanctuary program generates outside Washington and outside National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. As a result, the national program does not routinely draw upon the extraordinary resources and capabilities of other programs in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, from satellite remote sensing to fisheries oceanography. Nor does it draw upon other Federal and state agencies, whose land, water, and wildlife management programs can profoundly influence the waters and wildlife of sanctuaries. The program is isolated, and its isolation is a strategic handicap. This kind of isolation is not unique to the sanctuary program, to NOAA, or to government.
Specialization is a way of life in government and in private society.
Competition rather than collaboration is the rule for getting ahead. Opening doors, building bridges, breaking down barriers between academic disciplines, agency programs, citizens groups, and legislative committees is the exception rather than the rule. In recent years, a lot of hard work has brought oceans and coasts more attention and support than they have received since the 1960s, when Vice President Hubert Humphrey was a passionate advocate for oceans in the White House. But our concern for the oceans now competes with many more concerns as worthy and as urgent as our own. And too often, we find ourselves working in isolation or competition with others whose agenda is slightly different, but complimentary if we stop to think about it.