Coastal Commission education

Jose Paul Corona

A local chapter of an environmental club has taken up the fight to

save the coast.

The Sierra Club of Los Angeles and Orange County held a meeting last

week at the Huntington Beach Central Library to ask residents and club

members to take up the charge.

The main messages, said Sierra Club Coastal Coordinator Mark Massara

-- the California coast is in serious danger. Developers are trying to

grab as much coastal land as they can, and the California Coastal

Commission, the state agency in charge of protecting the coastline,

operates without much public scrutiny, the group contends.

“For the most part people are dismayed at all the development,”

Massara said.

Founded in 1982, the Sierra Club is one of the country’s leading

environmental organizations. The club has more than 700,000 members and

it tries to educate the public on the responsible use of the environment.

The club’s stop in Huntington Beach, which drew about 60 people, is

part of its Coastal Campaign.

Public interest in preserving the coast is very high in Huntington

Beach, but education about who and what the California Coastal Commission

is seems to be lacking, said Paul Arms, a member of the Sierra Club

executive committee. “Most of the folks were not familiar with the

importance of the Coastal Commission,” he said, “We’ve got 1,100 miles of

coastline and the Coastal Commission is the main protector of the

coastline.”

The group is concerned by the number of projects the commission

approves every year.

“Developers are doing everything they can to develop [the coastline],

it’s sometimes hard to say no to them,” said Bolsa Chica Land Trust

Treasurer, Nancy Donovan.

The areas of most concern to Huntington Beach residents are the Bolsa

Chica Wetlands and Banning Ranch, Arms said.

The meeting was the first opportunity for many local residents to get

involved.