Surfrider Foundation, MAKING WAVES, August 2004

MAKING WAVES, August 2004 issue: Table of Contents

Kicking Out the Jams for Dana Strands
*By Chelsea Murphy* After failing to receive an expected vote of support from the California Coastal Commission, and facing the imminent construction of a beach-threatening seawall by greedy developers, South Orange County activists did the only thing any self respecting surf rat would do: they got their punk on! With support from Op, the Surfrider Foundation's San Clemente Chapter organized a benefit concert at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano to help raise money for the chapter's Save Strands campaign. On April 28th, several hundred fans and local surfers turned out to watch the Distillers, who agreed to give up a rare night off from their tour to support the cause, along with old school punkers and long-time Surfrider Foun-dation supporters TSOL. San Clemente's own Killing California opened the show. "We thought that it was pretty cool to get three bands that represented the same punk-rock "do it yourself" ethic that our activists have shown throughout this campaign," says Ed Mazzarella, Surfrider Foundation's National Director of Chapters. Top left of page: The Distillers' Brody Dalle; Top right of page: San Clemente's own Killing California; Above left: Op's Michael Marckx and Water Magazine's Steve Zelden; Above right: Long-time Surfrider supporter, Jack Grisham of T.S.O.L.; All Photos: Sherman		The San Clemente Chapter's Save Strands campaign is focused on protecting Dana Strands, a popular surf break in Dana Point, which is being threatened by a proposed seawall project to support a planned development project. Locals are particularly protective of the break, given that the break is located on the opposite side of the point where the legendary Killer Dana once existed, before being buried under tons of rock to make way for Dana Point Harbor. The chapter had hoped to thwart the developer's plans at a recent California Coastal Commission hearing, but was disappointed when several Commis-sion members, including Orange County appointee Toni Iseman, voted to approve the project. "Basically what we are looking at here is a government agency caving in to special interests and giving away something that belongs to the public," says San Clemente Chapter Activist, Rick Erkeneff. The Surfrider Foundation contends that the decision to support the seawall is inconsistent with California's Coastal Act and is now working to raise funds for possible litigation against the commission. Thanks to support from Op and Dr. Tim Brown, between the concert and a charity golf tournament thrown the next day, the chapter was able to raise over $15,000 in support of the campaign.