Shaping Room

Giant patch of ocean debris carries ghost nets, trash onto Island shores

 More evidence that we're fouling our nest, on a global scale.

A massive oceanic debris gyre has drifted south into Hawaiian waters, driving loads of derelict fishing gear and plastic trash onto Island beaches. For Hawai'i beachcombers, it means better chances of finding prized glass fishing floats. But for the environment, it's bad news, marine scientists say.

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HISTORICAL FL LAKE WORTH BREAK SAVED FROM DEVIOUS PLOY

  On February 21st the Palm Beach Chapter stopped a two-fold disaster that would have destroyed the Lake Worth break that is home to 7 pro surfers since the 1950s. Palm Beach's erosion administrator, who viciously attacks anyone who opposes beach nourishment and calls reefs "lifeless rocks", was sent with the Mayor of Palm Beach (richest county in Florida) packing out of the neighboring City of Lake Worth.  The purpose of the visit was because  the adjacent town couldn't perform a massive dredge-and-fill project for Palm Beach private beaches without including the City of Lake Worth's public beaches to get federal funding. In order to try get the bulldozers to the beach without informing the City of the Town's larger plan, the Town tried to request an easement to use the public beach for ingress/egress of heavy equipment for a small dune restoration north and south of Lake Worth as well as offer a free dune restoration.

   The Mayor of Lake Worth, a surfer, lifeguard, and teacher, invited the Town to give a presentation due to the fact that the Department of Environmental Protection, Coral Reef Task Force, National Marine Fisheries, and EPA all felt that the area was not eroding and did not need a project. In addition, the Mayor invited the Palm Beach Chapter to present the opposing perspective ot the Council members. The Town was not aware that Surfrider was ready and waiting for them, well aware of their tactics to sucker the beach community of Lake Worth. Chapter Chair Tom Warnke drove 8 hours round trip from a offsite job in northern Florida just to make sure he was there for his chapter.

The Town gave a mendacious presentation promising zero reef impacts and "beach compatible" sand. But Surfrider activists brought samples of the native beach sediments and the offshore silt they were pumping on the beaches farther north. Chapter members and former local Terry Gibson of Surfer Magazine further explained the ploy scenario as well as the available science that supports the City's beach was quite stable and healthy. In addition the local dive clubs also showed up to further support Surfrider.

The Lake Worth City Council unanimously refused to allow the easement and any future projects, and voted to write the Army Corps a very nasty letter. The City was not going to let the corps or the Town of Palm Beach tell them that there was something wrong with their beach. The photos demonstrate what the PB chapter saved.

Oceans Policy: It's a Matter of Leadership

Last chance to Save Trestles

Well, it’s getting down to crunch time.  This Thursday, February 23rd, the Transportation Corridors Agency will vote to officially determine the alignment for the 241 Foothill South extension. 

As you all know by now, if constructed as planned this project will result in profound and permanent damage to the San Mateo Creek watershed, including harm or loss of seven endangered fish, bird and animal species, visual blight and dramatic decreases in water quality. 

Additionally, according to the TCA’s own engineers, this project will likely result in a disruption of hydrology in San Mateo Creek, which could result in “significant loss of surfing resources” at Trestles.  The project will also result in significant compromises to both the Donna O’Neill Land Conservancy and the San Onofre Beach Park’s San Mateo Creek campground 

This will be the last chance for you to make your voice heard while before this critical vote goes down. The Surfrider Foundation has set up a Save Trestles Action Alert, which will send your comments directly to Governor Schwarzenegger. 

Encourage him to join Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the California State Parks Department and various local representatives in asking the TCA to not build this project through San Mateo Creek, and instead consider other, more viable alternatives. 

Simply click here . If you wish you may add more to the pre-written letter or simply just fill out the fields and click “send.” 

Action Alert tools such as these can be highly effective!   Their success depends on you taking two minutes of your time and filling it out.  We also ask that you send it to at least two people who you know will do the same. 

This is it guys – the groms are depending on us to preserve Trestles for them!  Please click here and ask the Governor to help Save Trestles! 

Bill to Protect California Coast

Governor Put to the Road Test at Trestles

 Put to the road test
The governor must decide whether a toll road through San Onofre State Park would square with his promises on growth and global warming.

By Joel R. Reynolds

ARNOLD Schwarzenegger promised to bring an end to business as usual in Sacramento and deliver a greener California. Now those promises are being tested as the governor considers how to respond to a proposal by Orange County's Transportation Corridor Agency to build a major toll road through the heart of the state park at San Onofre State Beach.

 There is no denying the proposed road's extraordinary cost to the park, to the millions of visitors each year and to the surrounding San Mateo Creek watershed. And Schwarzenegger's opposition, in the courts or on the evening news, could be a significant obstacle for the project. The Orange County agency and its Sacramento lobbyists are hoping his belief in privately funded toll roads in general, and his need to solidify his base among county Republicans, will persuade him to support the toll road or at least to stand quietly on the sidelines.

 But this isn't just any toll road, and Schwarzenegger is no shrinking violet when it comes to the environment.

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Ice Dumped by Greenland's Glaciers Triples in 10 Years (LA Times)

 Scientists say 'wake-up call' study indicates that sea level could climb even more quickly than current projections.

 By Alan Zarembo, Times Staff Writer

Greenland's vast glaciers are dumping ice into the ocean three times faster than they did 10 years ago because of increasing temperatures, suggesting that sea level could rise even more quickly than current projections.

The study, published today in the journal Science, found that the glaciers contributed 53 cubic miles of water to the Atlantic Ocean in 2005, resulting in about a 0.02-inch rise in sea level.

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Partnering With States to Make a Difference for Clean Water

The following is from  Hawaii Department of Health Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act 2005 Notification Report to EPA. 

"The DOH is very fortunate to have as it’s partner the Surfrider Foundation.  At the beginning, when the CWB did not have the means to put their beach data on the web, Surfrider Foundation and Surfrider Oahu Chapter stepped forward and offered their website.  Shortly after, Surfrider Maui Chapter also asked for our beach data.  Surfrider Foundation with RashGuard.Org use our beach data in their national website of surfing sites.  Any surf/beach site with in the bacteria standard is given a green flag and if there is an exceedance, a red flag. The Oahu Chapter of Surfrider uses our spreadsheet that includes enterococci, Clostridium perfringens, and the basic parameters of temperature, pH, DO, % saturation, salinity, and turbidity. The Maui Chapter uses the enterococci and Clostridium perfringens data."

And it's not just in Hawaii that our activists are collaborating with state health agencies.  In Oregon, several Surfrider activists served on the Oregon Beach Monitoring Advisory Committee that shaped their beach monitoring program and we continue to work the Oregon Beach Monitoring Program to help determine which beaches to test and how best to communicate the results to the public.

In Washington, Surfrider Foundation members collaborated with Clallam and Whatcom Counties to collect some of the samples and deliver the samples to the laboratory. In addition, our Olympic Peninsula, Northwest Straights, and Seattle Chapters are supplementing the state testing program by doing their own testing through our Blue Water Task Force Program.

Surfrider's San Mateo County Chapter in California is assisting the County with water sample collection & data management, as well as collecting and analyzing their own samples.

The simple joys of the ocean

Short film

Glenn steps up

One of our founders, Glenn Hening, was tapped to speak at the prestigious Regents Lecture program. Kudos to Glenn for staying engaged for decades on end and for helping bring the image of a surfer from Jeff Spicoli to Aldous Huxley.

 

Jim Moriarty

Executive Director

 

News coverage http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/lifestyle

More on the event http://www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/pr/hening.asp

More on Regents Lecture program http://www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/regents/

My Trip to Tijuana

No, this does not involve 99 cent beers or buying something that resembles Spongebob.  Recently I was fortunate to be able to take a tour of parts of the Tijuana River Watershed.  It is a watershed that holds the number one border crossing in the world (San Ysidro) and the City of Tijuana.  With over two million people, Tijuana is now larger than San Diego.  The watershed is roughly shaped like island of Oahu and most of it is located on the Mexico side of the U.S. border.  Part of the watershed that is located within California includes where the Tijuana River outlets to the Pacific Ocean, just south of Imperial Beach.  The waters off these beaches are often closed after the rain because water tests show high levels of bacteria.

Many thanks to Ben McCue of the WiLDCOAST Conservancy Team for arranging the tour and inviting me along.  Our guide was Oscar Omar from NOAA who has lived and worked in the area for decades.  After a quick orientation we were on the 5 headed south.  As we crossed the border we circled around to the top of Los Laureles Canyon and the road went from paved to packed dirt to dirt packed with rocks.  According to Oscar, in the early 1980's about 10 people lived in the canyon and big ranches ruled the 4.6 mile sub-watershed.  Now there are an estimated 70,000 people living in Los Laureles and reminders of ranchland are basically gone.  Only a small percentage of the residents (if any) in this area have their sewage piped and treated.  The rest directly enters the watershed.

After a good amount of time in Los Laureles, we headed east, back through Tijuana and toward Otay Mesa to check out some of the newer development.  Along the Rio Alamar, which flows into the Tijuana River, we found an illegal dump site located on federal land and noticed outfall pipes from some of the buildings above the valley.  A new development is getting started on the floodplain directly adjacent to the river.  Driving further east, tract developments are now popping up in the foothills.  To be honest, I don't really comprehend everything that I saw.  Personally, I don't know the best solution for the problems, but it is apparent that there are lots of problems to solve.

New homes in Los Laureles that were built on the sediment left after the early 2005 flooding.

Around Los Laureles discarded tires are building material.

Illegial trash dump in Los Laureles.

Sample of the trash that was everywhere.

Storm drain on the way out of Los Laureles.

Picture from above the Rio Alamar floodplain showing the new development underway.

Photos and story by Bill Hickman

 

Both Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan Were Instrumental in Establishing and Preserving San Onofre State Beach

Back in 1970, it was President Richard Nixon who proposed the establishment of a California State Park at what is now San Onofre State Beach. At that time, Nixon said, "We must leave a legacy that goes beyond good housing, vital industries, and strong defense. We must also provide an endowment of parklands and recreational areas that will enrich [citizens'] leisure opportunities and make the beauties of the earth and sea more accessible to them."

Then governor Ronald Reagan helped President Nixon bring the wonderful San Onofre beaches and a crucial inland segment of the San Mateo Creek into the California State Park system in April 1971. When the park opened, Gov. Reagan commented on the dedication of the new state park as "the culmination of many months of dedicated effort by many people to enhance and preserve California's grandeur and beauty. I firmly believe one of the greatest legacies we can leave to future generations is the heritage of our land, but unless we can preserve and protect the unspoiled areas which God has given us, we will have nothing to leave them."

San Onofre State Beach, which has become one of California's most popular State Parks, is threatened by the proposed construction of a toll road highway that would bisect the inland portion of the park and parallel San Mateo Creek, the centerpiece of the last clean, largely pristine, coastal watershed in Southern California. San Mateo Creek empties into the world famous Trestles surf breaks. For more info, see the Save Trestles web site.

Parking Plan To Reach Final Stage

By Nikki Moore— Staff Writer    Published Friday February 10, 2006.

After almost four years of planning, a revised version of the Isla Vista parking plan is making a final pit stop at the California Coastal Commission (CCC), where commission members will decide whether or not to allow the plan to take effect.


photo by Amy Dozier / Daily Nexus

A line of parked cars in Isla Vista displays the lack of available parking throughout the area on streets such as Del Playa Drive, Sabado Tarde Road and Trigo Road. Santa Barbara County is sending a modified edition of the I.V. Parking Plan to the CCC which will help alleviate these stressful parking issues. more

Ponto was going off...........with litter.

The San Diego County Chapter held a beach cleanup on February 11^th at the Ponto Jetty, south of Carlsbad.  Over one hundred volunteers showed up to help.  It was a beautiful North County Saturday.  The sun was shining, the wind was calm and some fun waist to chest high peaks were coming through.  Everything was great.  Except for all of the litter on the beach.  It was the usual suspects – cigarette butts, plastic, styrofoam, etc. that fouled the beach.  We had to leave behind thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands of pieces of styrofoam that were too small to focus on.  We were unlucky enough to find a needle in the driftwood along the high tide line.  Imagine the danger if a child found that and thought it was a toy.  The San Diego County chapter holds at least two beach cleanups each month to help fight this problem, but we need your help on a daily basis.  Please make it a habit to pick up at least three pieces of litter when leaving the beach on top of all of the good stuff that you already do.

photos by Bill Hickman

Dear Gov

Morris Island Saved!

In 2004, the Charleston Chapter fully lunched its Morris Island Campaign (http://www.surfrider.org/charleston/page_projects.html)  to preserve this historic and ecologically fragile barrier island. In February 2006, Peter Beck, Chairman of Surfrider Foundation’s Charleston/Folly Beach, SC Chapter announced a major victory in their campaign, with the Trust for Public Land securing an option to purchase Morris Island. This victory could not have been accomplished without the efforts of Surfrider Foundation's other partners in the Morris Island Coalition, including the Civil War Preservation Trust, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the S.C. Battleground Preservation Trust, the Coastal Conservation League, the Robert Lunz Group of the Sierra Club, 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 37th Texas Cavalry re-enactors, Surfrider Foundation-Charleston Chapter, Folly Island Voters' Association, the 27th S.C. Volunteer Infantry, the Palmetto Battalion, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans: Fort Moultrie and Secessionville. A special thank you to the Civil War Preservation Trust in Washington who provided guidance, financial support and created publicity for the coalition by putting Morris Island on their Top Ten Most Endangered Civil War Battlefields list. They also funded the Mason Dixon research poll last year, showing overwhelming public opposition to the development of Morris Island. This outstanding victory provides a great example of the effectiveness of the grassroots movement and could not have been achieved without such a diverse group. Congratulations!

Move To Snub Out Smoking At San Diego Beaches & Parks (CBS News)

Move To Snub Out Smoking At San Diego Beaches & Parks

CBS News

San Diego smokers could soon be forced to kick the habit at all city parks and beaches. Cigarette smoking is a health hazard for local beachgoers, and a newly proposed ban could change all that.
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Government Must Act Fast to Save Oceans

February 03, 2006 — By John Heilprin, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Leaders of two expert commissions that spent years examining the nation's ocean policies give the Congress, Bush administration and governors a near-failing grade for not moving quickly enough to address hundreds of their recommendations.

The presidential panel chaired by James Watkins, a retired Navy admiral and former energy secretary, recommended in September 2004 creating a new trust fund, boosting research, improving fisheries management and consolidating federal oversight among 212 recommendations in its 610-page final report, the first federal review of ocean policy in 35 years.

The privately funded Pew Oceans Commission chaired by Leon Panetta, former President Clinton's White House chief of staff, reached many of the same conclusions a year earlier.

Now, members of the former commissions have joined forces, saying the government's "D+" effort so far could imperil the oceans' health and abundance if the problems are left untended much longer.

"We're hopeful that 2006 is going to be a banner year for ocean policy reform," Watkins said Thursday. "The crisis now is to prevent an irreversible situation five to seven years from now, that will grow exponentially if we don't get on these things."

Panetta agreed: "We're unified in saying to the administration and the Congress, 'We've got to wake up and deal with this crisis facing our oceans.' 

President Bush released an ocean action plan in December 2004 that included creation of a White House committee to oversee ocean policies and a proposal to cut air pollution from marine vessels in U.S. and foreign waters.

Lawmakers introduced bills to adopt various commission recommendations, such as reauthorizing the primary federal law governing fisheries management and making the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration an agency separate from the Commerce Department.

NOAA spokesman Jordan St. John said the Bush administration has taken "aggressive and responsible action" toward better ocean policy, such as improving how coral reefs are monitored and linking nearly 60 nations within a decade to gather and share information from satellites, ocean buoys, weather stations and other surface and airborne instruments.

"We're confident as projects are completed we'll earn higher marks," he said, adding, "This administration is putting $9 billion a year into ocean-related activities."