The same communities that fought for decades to protect California’s coast from offshore oil drilling have renewed their battle calls as the Trump administration considers opening 3,500 square miles of state waters to energy development.

Residents and local leaders from Santa Barbara to Mendocino, backed by Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris as well as Gov. Jerry Brown, are waging a statewide campaign to halt any downsizing of 11 national marine sanctuaries and monuments, including four in California.

At President Trump’s order, the Department of Commerce is re-evaluating the sanctuary status of areas granted protection within the past decade under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.The review, part of a broader effort launched in April to open more of the ocean to oil and gas drilling, covers California’s recent sanctuary expansions near the Channel Islands, Big Sur and Sonoma and Mendocino counties — home to endangered whales, rare seabirds, ancient corals and other curious sea creatures.

“To think about going backwards like this and opening up our coastlines is mind-blowing,” said Kerry Fugett, executive director of Sonoma County Conservation Action, whose supporters stood behind the formation of Northern California’s Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary in 1981 and two years ago endorsed it doubling in size. “It’s very sensitive for us when you talk about removing protections that we fought for. We can’t even begin to let this happen.”

Fugett is among many who have gone door-to-door, stood in front of county boards of supervisors or harnessed social media to build resistance to Trump’s sanctuary review over the past month. A 30-day public comment period on the review ends Wednesday night.

Supporters of sanctuaries say their special protections have been vital for sea life, particularly in California where the wind-driven upwelling of deep, nutrient-rich water makes the coast one of the world’s most biologically productive regions. Giant kelp forests, storied crab and salmon fisheries, a massive population of white sharks and some three dozen species of mammals ply the state’s four sanctuaries, which include Greater Farallones, Cordell Bank, Monterey Bay and Channel Islands.

Activities that pose a threat to marine life are prohibited at the sites, including oil and gas drilling, seabed mining and ocean dumping.

Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the division of the Commerce Department that is managing the sanctuary review, declined to answer questions from The Chronicle.

The executive order that directed the review, Trump’s America-First Offshore Energy Strategy, says the goal is to determine the costs of managing the protected sites, evaluate public support for them and look at the “opportunity costs” of not exploring energy and mineral exploration.

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In Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, where a robust research and tourist industry emerged with the 1992 designation of the Monterey Bay sanctuary, community leaders say they won’t cede ground in their effort to make the region a destination for ocean enthusiasts.

“You take the drive down Highway 1, or you take one of those whale-watching boats out on the bay, and you understand why people here feel a connection,” said Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley.

Panetta was one of 65 Democrats in the House to sign a letter Tuesday urging Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to maintain sanctuary protections at the 11 sites under review, which span from New England to Hawaii. In a long shot bid to shut down the review entirely, Panetta put forth an amendment in a congressional budget bill this week to end funding for the America-First Offshore Energy Strategy order.

“It’s letting the administration know that we’re going to continue to fight to ensure the protection of our sanctuaries, our monuments, our oceans,” Panetta said.

California’s two senators have also asked the Department of Commerce to preserve California’s sanctuaries, and the governor’s office confirmed it plans to do the same before Wednesday’s comment deadline.

While some two dozen oil rigs currently operate off the coast of California, all in the southern half of the state, opposition has prevented any new drilling since the 1980s. But interest has emerged, particularly near the Channel Islands and off the coast of Mendocino County.

“The fact that they’re targeting specific national marine sanctuaries tells me these are real drilling targets,” said Richard Charter, a Bodega Bay resident and senior fellow at the Ocean Foundation who has fought offshore oil development for decades. “You’re talking about opening America’s most sensitive treasures in the ocean to offshore drilling.”

Even if sanctuary protections are lifted, though, it could be a long time before new drill bits hit the water. Undoing the special status would likely take years of required reviews, and that’s if it doesn’t meet a legal challenge. Many have questioned whether Trump has the power to undo the designations of past presidents.

Areas targeted for new drilling also would have to be added to the federal government’s five-year plan for issuing new oil leases, which requires additional examination and time.

Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, an industry trade group, said there is no immediate interest in drilling in California’s sanctuaries.

“I am confident that our industry can produce energy safely no matter the environment, so it is understandable that the possibilities are being reviewed,” she said in an email. “However, I am not aware of any of our members chomping at the bit to pursue the opportunity in California.”

Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: KAlexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander