VENTURA
COUNTY CHAPTER NEWSLETTER
February - 2003
Ventura
County Chapter
239 W. Main Street
Ventura,CA, 93001
(805) 667-2222
Surfers Point - Fair Board OK's Managed Retreat Project
Coalition to Save Goleta's Beaches
Perchlorate contamination in local soil and groundwater
Fair official says former board members illegally OK'd home for ex-CEO
Baiting sharks with surfboards...
Shifting baselines campaign moves into high gear
Surfers Point - Fair Board OK's Managed Retreat Project
At their Board Meeting today, the Directors of Seaside Park voted to honor the prior board's commitment to Managed Retreat, and endorsed the EIR's "Preferred Alternative" originally proposed by the Surfrider Foundation. This move clears the way for final design of the beach restoration project, the consensus solution to more than a decade of discussion on how to solve this coastal erosion problem.
Following a presentation by Ventura City Engineer Rick Raives, and considerable discussion and public comment, the board approved the "Managed Retreat" concept with only one dissenting vote. Originally conceived by a working group of State and Local government agencies and citizen representatives, the retreat concept includes relocation of the erosion damaged bike path and parking lot at Surfers Point, near the mouth of the Ventura River. The preferred alternative provides for comprehensive restoration of the beach and dunes and the excavation and removal of all artificial fill placed beneath the parking lot.
Stating that their Master Plan process is just getting underway, the fair board reserved the right to request that further design relating to Shoreline Drive and the adjacent dirt parking area be held up until their future needs are better defined. This is in contrast to the prior fair board, who throughout the seven year planning process insisted that they required at least 3 traffic lanes on Shoreline Drive and mitigation for loss of parking. The dirt lot was to be paved and a modern drainage system installed under the current plan. Shoreline Drive was also to be widened to provide beach parking along the city street. The Fairgrounds Master Plan may ultimately include other alternatives inland from the relocated bike path, but the board has approved returning the beach parking to a more natural sand and cobble environment.
Surfrider thanks the members of the working group as well as all those who have participated in this process over the years. We look forward to the successful completion of this project within the next two years.
Comments on the Surfers Point EIR are accepted through Feb 2. Copies of the EIR may be obtained from the City Planning Department. http://www.ci.ventura.ca.us/
The Fairgrounds is soliciting public input on their Master Plan. For more information see www.seasidepark.org
Defenders' Environmental Network (DEN) - Wednesday, January 22, 2003
A Bi-weekly Update from Defenders of Wildlife: Working to Save Wildlife and Wild Lands
1. THEY'RE BAAAAAAAACK: Congress returns with Arctic wildlife refuge in bull's-eye
2. REIGN OF THE RADICAL: Pombo named chairman of House Resources Committee
3. DEN VICTORY: Officials drop plans to kill wolves, cougars
4. WILDLIFE ECOTOURS: See America's Wildlife in Yellowstone and Alaska
5. BLOOD IN THE WATER: Record number of manatees killed by boats
6. PUBLIC LANDS AT RISK: Norton makes it easier to build roads
7. QUASHING SCIENCE: Dolphin research shut down
1. THEY'RE BAAAAAAAACK: Congress returns with Arctic wildlife refuge in bull's-eye
The 108th Congress has only just begun and already oil corporations are renewing their campaign to drill in America's premiere wildlife sanctuary -- the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Big Oil's allies in Congress, strengthened by November's election results, are hatching a back-door scheme to hide their measure in the massive federal budget bill. But last year's bipartisan Senate vote to reject drilling reflected the wishes of a solid majority of Americans, and Defenders of Wildlife is again helping lead efforts to save the refuge for future generations. Remember that Big Oil wants to drill on the refuge's fragile coastal plain, the biological heart of this magnificent wilderness. That would destroy the home of polar bears, musk oxen, wolves, millions of migratory birds, caribou and hundreds of other species -- all for six months of oil that would take 10 years to make it to market.
To send a petition to your senators urging them to oppose drilling in the Arctic refuge, go to http://www.SaveArcticRefuge.org
2. REIGN OF THE RADICAL: Pombo named chairman of House Resources CommitteeA radical crusader against wildlife protections -- Congressman Richard Pombo of California -- has been elevated to the chairmanship of the important House Resources Committee. Pombo is a committed foe of the Endangered Species Act. He even advocates hunting elephants in Africa for their ivory tusks. The Resources Committee oversees hundreds of millions of acres of public lands in the West as well as the Interior Department, Forest Service and many environmental laws. "With the selection of Representative Pombo, the House leadership appears to be giving its most anti-environmental members the green light to pursue their agenda," said Robert Dewey, our vice president for government relations. "We can only hope that the American public and supporters of common-sense environmental policies in the House can put the brakes on the new chairman's agenda."
3. DEN VICTORY: Officials drop plans to kill wolves, cougarsThanks to e-mails from DEN members and our supporters, the government of British Columbia, Canada, is backing away from its plan to kill dozens of wolves and cougars over the next three years on Vancouver Island. Officials claimed that the killings were needed to help the recovery of black-tail deer. But the deer population's decline actually is mostly caused by the loss of old-growth forest, an important habitat. Seventy-five percent of the island's ancient forests have been logged.
4. WILDLIFE ECOTOURS: See America's Wildlife in Yellowstone and AlaskaVisit Yellowstone National Park during one of the prime wolf watching seasons! Spend a week in the breathtaking Lamar Valley studying and observing wolves, grizzly bears, black bears, moose and other wildlife. May 30 - June 6, 2003.
You can also spend nine days in Alaska -- see the wolves of Denali National Park, bears, moose, caribou, foxes and birds. This one-of-a-kind trip also includes three spectacular days on the ship The Alaska Discovery, where you'll see humpback whales, orcas, sea otters, bird colonies, calving glaciers and more. June 12 - 21, 2003.
Go to http://www.defenders.org/about/wildlifeviewingtours.html for itineraries and pricing or call Caroline Wood at 1-800-445-2995.
5. BLOOD IN THE WATER: Record number of manatees killed by boats
A record number of Florida manatees were killed in 2002 in collisions with boats. That's according to records released by state wildlife officials. Deaths by boat reached 95, a large increase over the previous all-time high of 82 in 1999. Endangered manatees are being killed and maimed by slicing boat propellers and crushed by boat hulls while Interior Secretary Gale Norton drags her feet, refusing to obey three separate court orders to protect the gentle sea cows by establishing more sanctuaries in Florida's coastal waters.
To send an e-mail to Norton demanding that she protect manatees, go to http://www.helpmanatees.org
6. PUBLIC LANDS AT RISK: Norton makes it easier to build roadsSecretary Norton has found a new way to open federal lands to road-building, mining and other commercial activities. She has issued rules making it easier for western states and local governments to claim rights of way on hundreds of millions of acres. That could lead to development destructive to wilderness areas and even national parks. The state of Alaska, for instance, has named 24 routes in Denali National Park and Preserve that it claims as valid state rights of way. Many in Congress are outraged. Rep. Edward Markey of
Massachusetts said Norton pulled an "end-run around Congress and the public. It is clearly intended to make it easier to impose new development or commercial exploitation."
7. QUASHING SCIENCE: Dolphin research shut downTwo former government scientists say their bosses shut down their research because it was showing that tuna-fishing practices are exposing dolphins to dangerous levels of stress. Dr. Albert Myrick and Dr. Sarka Southern worked for the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. To please Mexican and other Latin American tuna producers, the Commerce Department is trying to weaken the requirements for using "dolphin-safe" labels on cans of tuna fish sold in the United States. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans claims chasing dolphins into nets has "no significant adverse impact" on them.
To urge the U.S. government to protect dolphins, go to http://www.savedolphins.org
Defenders of Wildlife
1101 14th Street, NW, Suite 1400
Washington, DC 20005
http://www.defenders.org
http://www.kidsplanet.org
Copyright (c) 2003 by Defenders of Wildlife
COALITION TO SAVE GOLETA'S BEACHES
The Environmental Defense Center, IV and SB Surfrider Foundation Chapters, and Environmental Affairs Board along with several UCSB experts formed the COALITION TO SAVE GOLETA'S BEACHES just last week to address concerns of the conservation community regarding the County s current proposals.
The Coalition believes long-term solutions to coastal erosion should:
1. be sustainable,
2. work with nature,
3. not impose an excessive cost burden on future generations,
4. not affect negatively the down coast beaches,
5. use opinions of scientists in developing policy,
6. conform to best predictions of coastal changes.
GOLETA BEACH BACKGROUND:On Friday December 21 during high tides and large swells, county crews dumped 2,000 tons of boulders to shore up Goleta Beach Park. An emergency permit issued by the Coastal Commission allowed the construction of a temporary 600-foot long, ten-foot high seawall. The seawall is required to be removed before May 15, 2003. Ironically, these are the same boulders Surfrider and other groups forced the county to remove in 2000. The Board of Supervisors is now considering a permanent structure such as breakwater, beach fill, or groin to be constructed in the near future to protect the lawn area in the park. The Coalition to Save Goleta's Beaches is concerned of serious consequences coastal armoring will likely have to this popular beach.
GENERAL BACKGROUND:
California's coast now includes over 120 miles of seawall, or roughly 10% of the coast is armored. This is is a short-term fix that has more long term ecological and economic impacts than has previously been assessed by federal, state and local agencies or developers or concerned members of the public. In terms of the Goleta Beach area, a seawall may have significant long-term and short-term ecological and economic impacts; a seawall is hardly a quick fix for the area. We need a more systematic and scientifically defendable alternative to the area, given the myriad interests and natural values associated with this "beach".
Perchlorate contamination in local soil and groundwater
The California State Assembly's Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Assemblymember Hannah-Beth Jackson, is holding a hearing to increase public awareness and action on the issue of perchlorate contamination in local soil and groundwater.
Cancer-causing perchlroate is in Ventura County. Learn what can be done to address the public health danger:
Monday, February 10th at 7:00 pm
Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza - Founder's Room
2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd.Perchlroate is a substance known to cause cancer in adults and mental retardation in newborns. This dangerous chemical has been found in multiple locations in Ventura County. Like MTBE, it moves rapidly through soil and groundwater and poses a threat to the health of the community.
Please call (805) 648-9943 with any questions.
Fair official says former board members illegally OK'd home for ex-CEO
Gibbs failed to notify the city of Ventura and the state Coastal Commission before he installed th home and moved into it in January 2001. The home sits on the fairgrounds just yards from the Surfers Point beach.
By John Scheibe, jscheibe@insidevc.com
February 19, 2003A top Ventura County Fair official Tuesday denounced former board members for agreeing behind closed doors to use public money to buy a home for the fair's former chief executive officer.
"This was never discussed in public and it was never budgeted," fair board Vice President Ginger Gherardi said as the board considered Tuesday whether to keep or sell the modular home used by Roger Gibbs and his family.
Gibbs moved out of the fairgrounds home in early January after resigning as CEO in late December. Gibbs and board members said a difference in philosophies led to his departure, although some privately raised questions about his spending practices.
Gherardi took aim at former board members, saying state Deputy Attorney General Jerry Blair has determined they broke the state's open-meeting law when they approved the purchase of the $78,000 home behind closed doors during a Dec. 19, 2000, meeting.
Gov. Gray Davis replaced the old board with Gherardi and seven other new members starting in September 2001.
Gibbs was supposed to spend no more than $22,000 for improvements to the home under a deal he made with the former board, Gherardi said. But he instead spent nearly $77,000 on upgrades, including landscaping and a wooden deck, she said.
She said Gibbs hid most of the expenditures by "burying them in the maintenance budget."
Gibbs, 55, did not return a phone call Tuesday.
Gherardi also said Gibbs failed to notify the city of Ventura and the state Coastal Commission before he installed th home and moved into it in January 2001. The home sits on the fairgrounds just yards from the Surfers Point beach.
"It was only much later that the city found out that the home was there," Gherardi said. City officials agreed in May 2002 to let the home stand.
Gherardi called the home "a white elephant," but the board voted Tuesday to keep it at the fairgrounds. Gherardi said the board might rent the home to a future fair CEO.
Gibbs, who was earning $91,200 a year when he resigned, paid $800 a month in rent for the home. Gherardi said the $800 also covered utilities, including the telephone bill.
Earl McPhail, Ventura County agricultural commissioner and an ex-board member, said Tuesday he does not recall the former board agreeing behind closed doors to buy a home for Gibbs.
"I find that hard to believe," McPhail said.
McPhail said he also knows nothing about Gherardi's allegation that Gibbs spent more than $50,000 more on the home than he was supposed to.
McPhail said he's confident he and other former board members were provided with accurate financial information by the fair's then-deputy general manager, Ed Barlow.
Barlow was appointed acting general manager of the fair on Tuesday.
Gherardi also accused the old board of breaking a long-standing policy of using a competitive bidding process to buy hay and other animal bedding materials for the annual fair. The former board instead entered into an exclusive contract with Ojai Valley Feed and its owner, Norm Davis, to provide the material.
Gherardi said the contract might have cost the fair thousands of extra dollars a year.
Davis conceded he got the contract without an official bidding process but said he saved the fair much money. He said everything he sells to the fair, whether belt buckles or hay, "is cheaper across the board."
He called Gherardi's allegations "politics at its very worst."
"Right now we have the most unethical and immoral group trying to run the board," he said.
Davis said the level of unhappiness is so great that more than 1,000 registered voters across the county have signed a petition to recall Gherardi and her board allies. "The petition will be given to the governor's office next week," he said.
Copyright 2003, Ventura County Star. All Rights Reserved.
Baiting sharks with surfboards...
http://www.greatwhiteadventures.com/shark_report.php
Please be aware that there in a shark cage dive operator at the Farallons who for the past three years has been chumming and using surfboards to entice Great Whites to attack them. These same giant sharks also migrate to Point Reyes-right past Stinson Beach wherein the past three years have seen two surfers badly attacked.
Check out the sickening images at www.greatwhiteadventures.com What can we do about this? Sharks should not be "trained" to attack surfboards so this eco-freak can make a quick buck!
Shifting baselines campaign moves into high gear
Surfrider Foundation Supported Campaign Seeks to Raise Public Awareness of Decimation of Marine Ecosystems.
Los Angeles, CA (February 24, 2003) Organizers of the Shifting Baselines campaign unveiled its new website today. The launch of site, along with several support pieces, signaled the organizer’s effort to move the campaign into high gear.
“The idea behind our campaign is to have a slow build, rather than a single massive launch,” said Dr. Randy Olsen, film-maker, marine biologist and campaign founder.
The Shifting Bases campaign, which draws its name from a term coined by US fisheries biologist Daniel Pauly in 1995, centers on the premise that our interpretation of threats to the environment is influenced by our constantly changing perspective.
This point is profoundly illustrated on the campaign’s postcard mailers, in which a holographic image initially shows a shot of Caribbean reef, replete with healthy corals, numerous fish and other organisms. Tilted into the light, a new image shows up of the same reef, thirty years later; only now the reef is barren, save for the skeletal remains of some staghorn coral and a few fish.
The campaign is being supported by the Surfrider Foundation.
“The Shifting Baselines campaign is working to address the lack of public awareness towards the extent of degradation within the marine environment,” said Chad Nelsen, Surfrider Foundation’s Environmental Director. “We see the concept played out every day. Someone writes in and tells us that they remember how beautiful a particular beach was; how much sand was there and how the waves used to break. Over time, they’ve seen seawalls and other structures built up along the coastline and watershed. Now, years later, that beach has all but disappeared.”
Information on the Shifting Baselines campaign can be found by visiting them at shifitingbaselines.org.
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Stream Team
Upcoming events:
Saturday, March 1: Ventura Stream Team
What: Come help us collect water quality data at 15 sites in the beautiful Ventura River watershed!
When: Saturday, March 1 at 9:00 a.m. The outing will last approximately 4 hours.
Where: Meet at the Ventura Surfrider office at 239 W. Main St. in Ventura. From there we will travel by car to our sites.
Other: Please be prepared to get your feet wet! Pizza and sodas will be provided afterwards.
For more info: Please contact Leigh Ann at 563-5665, Jessie at 563-3399, or Paul at 648-4005
Sunday, March 2: Goleta Stream Team
What: Come help us collect water quality data at 11 sites in the Goleta Slough watershed.
When: Sunday, March 2 at 10:00 a.m. The outing will last approximately 3-4 hours.
Where: Meet at the K-Mart parking lot on the corner of Hollister and Storke Rd. (Look for us in the area of the parking lot in front of the K-mart garden center.) From there we will travel by car to our sites.
Other: Please be prepared to get your feet wet!
For more info: Please contact Leigh ann at 563-5665, Jessie at 563-3399, or Andrea at 685-2567
Also, please mark your calendar for the rest of the 2003 Stream Team dates:
April 5,6
May 3,4
June 7,8
July 12,13 (this is the second weekend of the month due to 4th of July weekend)
August 2,3
September 6,7
October 4,5
November 1,2
December 6,7
We hope to see you!
Matilija Coalition Field Trip - Ventura River Watershed
Native Plants and Habitat Assessment
Saturday March 8, 2003 9:30am - noonJoin David Magney, consulting botanist, for an overview of the vegetation mapping he conducted for the Matilija Dam Feasibility Study baseline conditions report.
We will walk the river between Hwy 150 and the Robles Diversion and learn thesignificance of nativeplants to the ecosystem.
Directions: From Ventura take Hwy 33 towards Ojai. Turn Left on Hwy 150. Take Rice Road north from Hwy 150, turn/jog left at Fairview. Turn Left onto Meyer Rd at the bottom of the hill. Meet at the corner of Meyer Rd and Oso Rd.
Wear hiking boots and be prepared to walk on the rough floodplain terrain.
RSVP to this e-mail or 648-4005The Matilija Coalition sponsors bi-annual watershed Field Trips to provide an opportunity to learn about the Matilija Dam Feasibility Study and watershed restoration efforts. See our website and newsletters for descriptions of past events. Please let us know if you have a specific interest or idea for a tour, or would like to co-sponsor a future event. We also do presentations about Matilija Dam to interested groups or organizations upon request.
Anniversary of the St Francis Dam Disaster
Ventura City Hall
Wednesday March 12, 7 PM.
a $5 donation at the door.This is the 75th anniversary of the failure of this dam that flooded the Santa Clara River valley on March 12, 1928.
Presentations by:
David Rogers, Ph.D, theKarl F. Hasselmann Chair in Geological Engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla
Ynez Haase about Charles Outland, local historian who researched and documented the disasterAnd a documentary film trailer by Wilkman Productions
Call Ventura County Museum to RSVP - 805 653-0323 x 10
Also, Dr Rogers will be signing copies of his book on St Francis failure at the museum bookstore between 2 and 4 PM that afternoon
