As 2014 nears an end, we here at the Surfrider Foundation reflect on our mission, what we’ve accomplished and what lies ahead for our ocean, waves and beaches in 2015.
At any given moment, Surfrider and our chapter activist network are working on dozens of campaigns for the continued protection of our coastal communities. These campaigns range from improving coastal water quality, cleaning our beaches and fighting for plastic-free oceans to advocating for legislation to protect at-risk coastal places and keep beaches accessible.
Since 2006, we have been tracking our victories. In 2014, our members enabled our chapters and activists to win 34 victories for our ocean, waves and beaches, giving us a current victory count of 297.
Our chapters are comprised of everyday people, just like you and me, addressing local issues on local beaches. Take a look how many victories we’ve won in your region:
Every year, the Surfrider Foundation identifies priority campaigns to focus our work and ensure we achieve important on-the-ground protection of our ocean, waves and beaches. While we support our current 91 ongoing campaigns, priority campaigns are where we go the extra mile to achieve meaningful conservation advancements.
Of our priority campaigns in 2014, here are a few victories that we are proud to share with you:
Each victory we win keeps our ocean waters clean, healthy, accessible and plastic-free. Together, we fought for free, uninterrupted access to our beaches and won. Our ocean and coastal victories are a result of you wanting to ensure that the special coastal places you love will be around today, tomorrow and for years to come.
Whether we are working at the local level to stop a dangerous coastal project, working to stop plastic from reaching our oceans through a statewide bag ban in California or fighting for national standards for clean water in the halls of Congress, each and every one of our coastal victories are won by a group of dedicated grassroots activists, members, chapters and staff.
Given the increasing seriousness of global environmental issues such as climate change, sea level rise, pollution and water contamination, we realize that change begins onshore. We will continue to face challenges in advancing our mission to protect our ocean, waves and beaches, but it’s the support from our members and constant pressure by our activists that will help us continue to achieve victories.
That’s what sets us apart from everyone else—we will not stop until we win.