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 TWO WORDS FROM OUR PRESIDENT: WE WON!!
The news is coming fast and furious here at CSPF. The California Coastal Commission acted last night to deny the Foothills South Toll Road a critical permit. This is a stunning victory for the state parks of California. Read more about the toll road below.
Last week, we got the news that Congress had passed and the President signed, HR 4986, the Military Authorization bill of 2008 that included Congresswoman Susan Davis's language to revision the TCA's pre-emption of State laws. Our enormous gratitude is extended to Congresswoman Davis for leveling the playing field and requiring that the TCA play by the same rules as everyone else.
In addition, you all know that the Governor announced a proposed budget for next fiscal year that will close 48 state parks and reduce 50% of the lifeguard protection of beaches in San Diego, Orange and Santa Cruz Counties. That is…unless we stop that proposal from ever being enacted. Read more about the cuts below.
 WE WON! STUNNING VICTORY SAVES SAN ONOFRE FROM TOLL ROAD
On Wednesday, February 6th, the California Coastal Commission dealt a decisive blow to the Transportation Corridor Agency's plans to build a toll road through the heart of San Onofre State Beach. In an historic decision, the Commission voted 8 to 2 to deny a federal consistency permit to the TCA, thus stopping the toll road dead in its tracks. The coalition of groups working to save the park, including CSPF and NRDC, the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Endangered League, Surfrider Foundation, Audubon California, and the California Coastal Protection Network, made a powerful presentation to the Commission that clearly showed how this environmentally destructive project did not—and could not—comply with the Coastal Zone Management Act. The points made in the presentation were echoed by the many members of the public who spoke, and the many hundreds more who attended but did not speak. It is estimated that over 3,000 people turned out to participate in the hearing process, the largest turnout in the Commission's 36-year history.
The coalition and speakers irrefutably demonstrated to the Commission that the toll road would do the following:
- Permanently eliminate over 50 acres of undisputed Environmentally Sensitive Habitat areas in the coastal zone
- Destroy San Mateo Campground, which serves 100,000 visitors annually
- Harm Trestles Beach by threatening wave formation at this world-famous surfing beach
- Fill wetlands and degrade water quality in one of the few areas in Orange County where water quality is good
- Damage Native American Resources by irreparably damaging sites sacred to the Acjachemen/Juañeno people.
The Commission's vote was expected to be closely divided, but at the final moment the momentum was overwhelming and only Commissioners Burke and Kram voted to grant the federal consistency permit, with Commissioners Blank, Wan, Kruer, Neely, Shallengerger, Reilly, Achadjian and Clark voting to preserve the park for future generations. Commissioners Hueso and Potter were not present.
We applaud the courage of the California Coastal Commissioners who rose to the occasion and acted decisively to protect the park and the coast from infrastructure threats. There are feasible alternatives to the Toll Road. We will continue to fight for those alternatives to be adequately analyzed and considered as we move forward.
For more information, link to www.savesanonofre.com. More to come!
 CSPF Launches Save Our State Parks Campaign and Website
As part of our work to oppose the Governor's proposed park closures and rally Californians throughout the state on this issue, we have launched the new Save Our State Parks Campaign – the SOS Campaign. We've created a new web site at www.savestateparks.org that contains additional information on the budget cuts and ways individuals and organizations can take action to stop the park closures and lifeguard staffing reductions. In particular, check out the "5 Things You Can Do" on the site, and help us spread the word about the campaign, contact your legislators, tell your story about your love for a particular state park, and more. Be sure to check the Save Our State Parks Campaign web site for information and updates as the budget negotiations continue through the next months.
 CSPF and Loews Coronado Bay Resort Partner for Silver Strand State Beach
The groundbreaking agreement between CSPF, State Parks, and San Diego-based Loews Coronado Bay Resort is proving to be extremely successful! Under the agreement, a very small percentage of each room payment is allocated to a fund held by CSPF for maintenance and improvement projects at Silver Strand State Beach. The hotel has direct access to the nearby beach via a pedestrian underpass.
Since the agreement went into effect in January 2007, the donation fund has accumulated over $143,000. Some ten proposed projects are slated for the beach, including additional maintenance staff, interpretive specialists, new interpretive signage, new structural paint, and trash container enclosures. This innovative type of agreement between CSPF and a hotel is being developed as a pilot program by State Parks for implementation statewide.
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| ©Steve Siernen |
UPDATE: Anza-Borrego and Sunrise Powerlink
As the Surnrise Powerlink proposal for transmission lines through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park moves through the regulatory process, some encouraging signs have emerged that success for San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is far from a slam-dunk. Organizational and citizen activism, including that of the CSPF, has resulted in the issuance of a very strong Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (D/EIR-EIS) that will influence all subsequent proceedings, including the California Public Utilities Commission's granting of a permit to SDG&E.
The D/EIR-EIS, released on January 3, 2008, recommends eight "Overall Environmentally Superior Alternatives" for analysis, starting in order of preference, with the eighth alternative being "no project." The D/EIR-EIS boldly recommends that either all-source or renewable in-area generation—meaning a combination of components such as gas-fired generators, solar thermal and photovoltaics, and biomass/biogas in San Diego County—are both preferable to a transmission line. The D/EIR-EIS goes on to list the LEAPS transmission-only project, which avoids the park, and two other routes that also skirt the park, as all environmentally superior to SDG&E's proposed project, which comes in on the list at #6. Only one alternative is ranked lower. This is a major victory for the coalition fighting the destructive Sunrise Powerlink project.
The D/EIR-EIS can be viewed here. A series of public meetings are being held throughout San Diego County toward the end of February to gather comments on the D/EIR-EIS, and CSPF urges its members to attend any one of those meetings to voice their concerns and reactions to this critically important document. For a list of times and places, click here.
CSPF Podcast Series and Photo Contest A Hit!
 We have just posted our second podcast episode—Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. More to come every month! Our new Photo Contest has already attracted over 150 beautiful entries, check them out, and join in with your best photographs of state parks. It is free, and we are lining up some fantastic prizes.
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