East Coast Surfrider Foundation Capitol Chapter Chair, Darryl Hatheway has been appointed to the Board of Advisors for the Healthy Beaches Campaign. The Healthy Beaches Campaign was established to promote conservation of our coastal resources and comply with Environ-mental Protection Agency standards of cleanliness, safety and environmentally sound practices. The Healthy Beaches Campaign is a non-profit project of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at the Florida International University at Miami under the direction of Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman. In other Capitol Chapter news, Surfrider’s DC activists have forged a partnership with Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (ACE) to form the Stream Steward Program. The program is designed as a resource for public education and volunteer outreach efforts on local environmental improvements. The team conducts regular stream clean-ups, invasive plant re-moval and storm drain marking projects throughout the winter (weather permitting) and spring within the Four Mile Watershed. For information on how to volunteer, contact the Capitol Chapter. Eastern Surf Magazine, the premier East Coast surfing publication has named Surfrider Foundation’s victory at Tres Palmas, Rincón, Puerto Rico as the 2002 Environmental Victory of the Year in their first annual ESeMMIE Awards. Congratulations to our Rincón Organizing Committee for this tremendous honor! Over the last 27 years, long-time Palm Beach County Chapter activist Tom Warnke, a founding member of the chapter, has volunteered over 8,000 hours to both the Surfrider Foundation and Eastern Surfing Association. At 54, Tom works to assure that the next generation of waveriders and beach users have a chance to experience the rush that keeps him in the water and volunteering to this day. Surfrider Foundation's Boston Chapter recently received an $8,000 donation from local area radio station, WBCN 104.1 to support the chapters work for coastal protection and preservation. According to Chapter Chair, Elizabeth Fuller, the donation is very welcomed and will be put to good use. The Ocean City Maryland and Capitol Chapters, have again thrown our long arms of "outreach" to Tamarindo, Costa Rica. Within the past few weeks, these two chapters have worked in concert to provide over 500 copies of Surfrider Foundation’s 20 Caminos (20 Ways) brochure to the local community. According to Ocean City chapter member Randy Meyer, the brochures will be distributed by the good folks at Robert August Surf Shop located within Vista Villas, at Tamarindo. Hopefully, this will be just the beginning of having all Surfrider printed material translated into Spanish, allowing a growing number of our Latin-speaking folks to understand the need to preserve and protect our precious ocean and beaches. Gulf Coast Ellis Pickett reports that Surfrider Foundation’s Texas and Central Texas Chapters are continuing their efforts to watchdog and promote the enforcement of the Texas Open Beaches Act throughout the longhorn state. This important piece of legislation, which guarantees beach access to all Texans, is currently under attack with Texas State Senate Bill 554 and House Bill 1457. Both these bills contain provisions which allow violations of the Open Beaches Act to continue for another four years. At press time, the Texas Chapter has been working directly with legislators and has put out a call to action to the public. To find out more about the this issue, or if you’d like to get involved, contact the Texas Chapter at (936) 336-5428 or the Central Texas Chapter at (512) 415-6816.

West Coast The San Clemente Chapter is continuing its long-standing involvement in proposed sand nourishment and erosion issues that affect their shoreline. According to the US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) San Clemente Beaches have been eroding for the past 40 years and the beach width in 1999 was less than half of that measured in 1958 (USACE, 2000). Recognizing the severity of this issue, the City of San Clemente and the Army Corp of Engineers began taking a Shoreline Protection Study of San Clemente’s Beaches. This is a four-phase program, comprising a reconnaissance study, feasibility study and the design and construction of mitigation measures if necessary. The reconnaissance aspect of the study was completed in September 2000. During this study, the USACE reviewed available data, defined the program and briefly evaluated structural and non-structural mitigation measures. They reported that continued erosion would increase damage to city and private facilities, undermine the railroad corridor, increase public safety and liability problems and negatively impact tourism and economic benefits. Currently underway is the feasibility study to determine the causes of beach erosion and to evaluate alternatives to mitigate the problem. Based on the prior study, the USACE is evaluating beach fill with retention devices, beach fill without retention devices, revetments and sheetpile walls. This section of the study is due to be completed in 2004. The result of this study will determine if the USACE recommends shoreline protection measures and ultimately project design and construction. The San Clemente Chapter will work with the City and USACE in all aspects of this issue to help protect surfing resources, water quality and keep groins and jetties off the beach. They’re demanding that surfing resources be included in any type of monitoring plan and will strive to ensure that the beach contour is not significantly changed in a way that will impact beach breaks. In particular, they’ll work to ensure that the reefs off shore which create such local breaks such as T-Street are not buried with sand, which could occur in a nourishment project. If you are interested in more information on this campaign, or if you would like to get involved, please contact the chapter directly at (949) 492-8248. The Laguna Beach Chapter of Surfrider Foundation is part of a large coalition of environmental organizations who are urging the Governor to reopen a local parcel of state park land to the public. Since 1979, the public has owned the land on which the El Morro Village Mobile Home Park is located on. For over 23 years, residents of the mobile home park, located on the North end of the City of Laguna Beach have been living in a California State Park and the public has been denied use of the site as a coastal campground. California State Parks wants to remove the trailers, and return the area to a more natural setting as a state park campground. El Morro park residents were originally slated to relocate in 1999, but received a 5-year stay on this mandate. Home owners are countering with a proposal which makes provisions for the immediate removal of those units closest to the water, while allowing for the remaining units to be phased out as the owners either move out or pass away. Laguna Beach Chapter activists are rejecting the plan, maintaining that it is not appropriate for any type of housing to be located in a public park. The funding for El Morro restoration has been approved. According to Rick Wilson, Laguna Beach Chapter Chair, “Because the project is funded from Proposition 12, none of that funding can be diverted to other budget projects or savings. By law, it must be used for park acquisition and development.” State Parks has done the preliminary planning phase and has a certified Environ-mental Impact Report. They are now completing the detailed design and will be ready for the construction phase in early 2005, just after the residents move out. STAFF NOTE: While most of the staffers here Surfrider Foundation's National Headquarters decided to weather out last summer's flat spell playing volleyball, skateboarding or riding mountain bikes, apparently several of us pursued more "amorous" endeavors. As a result, we are thrilled to welcome Lucia Mazzarella, Pilar Bascope and Marissa Booth into the family. Activist Quote of the Month “Seawalls beget seawalls. Once you start armoring you can’t really stop unless there’s a natural hard object like a granite cliff, which we don’t have around here. The fact is, the beaches do belong to all of us and we stand a chance of losing them if we don’t let nature take its course.” - Teresa Ish, Vice Chair Santa Cruz Chapter in reference to the chapter’s Pleasure Point Campaign. Send your chapter news, with accompanying high resolution digital images to makingwaves@surfrider.org *   *   *