The Loma Prietan
May/June 2003
Great Coastal Places
by Sarah Ryan
It's been over a year since the Sierra Club launched the Great Coastal Places campaign and began to build a statewide network of coastal activists dedicated to protecting California's coastline from development and pollution. During this time, the network has grown to include over 5,000 people from all over California, who have pledged their commitment to help save our beautiful beaches.
The Coastal Commission's special hearings, held all last year in cities along the coast, turned out thousands of activists who spoke on behalf of our great coastal places. These heartfelt testimonies urging for coastal protection led to countless victories. The Commission denied, once again, the Dos Pueblos golf complex on the pristine Gaviota Coast. They prohibited off-highway vehicles on Humboldt Bay's South Spit, an important nesting ground for the endangered snowy plover. The Coastal Commission continued to move towards a positive protection program for the Hearst Ranch and denied an "entrepreneur" from taking water from the Gualala and Albion rivers and towing it to San Diego for sale.
Please fill out the insert enclosed in this issue of the Loma Prietan and join us at our next meeting in Half Moon Bay, where we will review the above victories, as well as other coastal success stories, and talk about our plans for the campaign's second year. Help us to protect the California coast.