Planning a relaxing, blissful retreat to a tropical paradise south of the border? In addition to beach chair lounging, umbrella drinks, shopping, massages, and sumptuous eating, why not balance your spirit by doing an eco-friendly activity as well? Think of it as a sort of “carbon offset” for the environment. Such an activity might include protecting sea turtles, viewing gray whales as they cavort in a bay, helping restore a nature preserve or a trail, or helping clean a beach.

Sunset Magazine recently began a Green Living section in each issue. In the March 2008 issue, they feature an earth-friendly spring fling in Mexico protecting the sea turtles in Playa Las Tortugas. The villas at Playa Las Tortugas, 70 miles north of Puerto Vallarta, share 5 miles of creamy beach with nothing but a coconut plantation. When beach-bum fatigue sets in, volunteer to rescue turtle eggs on the beach or to place baby turtles on wet sand, and watch as moonlight sparkling off the waves guides them to the sea.

The Platanitos Sea Turtle Camp (at Playa Las Tortugas on Costa Tortuga) is regulated and directed by Mexico’s National Commission of Protected Areas, part of the Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources.

The Turtle Camp’s home is an exceptional place. It lies between the beach and over 1100 acres of pristine salt-water tidal estuary on the north end of 11 miles of beach branded as “Costa Tortuga”.

Behind the Camp are channels and pools filled with mangroves, waterfowl and an enormous array of other flora and fauna. Along with species of sea turtle that nest on the beach, the estuary is nesting habitat for a large number of birds including many that migrate from the Rocky Mountain corridor. Just east of the estuary, semi-tropical forested hills begin rising to eventually give form to the Sierra Madre, home to native Indian tribes such as the Cora and colorful Huichol.

Selva Negra (Black Forest), a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the environment, is helping to fund operation the Platanitos Sea Turtle Camp along with the developer and homeowners of Playa Las Tortugas.

Selva Negra was founded and is operated by the musical group Mana, a partner of WiLDCOAST in the ocean conservation.

So if you are planning a vacation in tropical Mexico you might create a more lasting memory by helping save and protect sea turtles as part of your itinerary.

Joe Miller

The decisive rejection last Wednesday by the California Coastal Commission (8-2) of the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) proposed 241 toll road that would have obliterated much of San Onofre State Beach Park was one of the most significant decisions in the history of the agency. The vast and overwhelming coalition that assembled to defend one of California’s most popular state parks and one of the world’s best and most famous surf spots was historic. The more than 3,000 people who assembled to defend San Onofre were the largest crowd in the history of Coastal Commission hearings.

Since the environmental movement is not accustomed to such overwhelming victories, we do not always analyze our successes or failures. But due to the scope of the landmark movement to preserve San Onofre and the diversity of the coalition that came together in the “Woodstock of the surf movement” last Wednesday, it is critical to understand why the Save Trestles-San Onofre Coalition won.

Here is a very brief and preliminary synopsis of the Super Bowl size victory:

Coalitions Matter: While the Surfrider Foundation did a brilliant job of mobilizing the masses and creating the coolest marketing campaign in the history of the environmental movement (kudos to Surfrider CEO Jim Moriarty and Matt McClain, Surfrider’s savant marketing and communications director), the Save Trestles/San Onofre coalition included the best and brightest of California’s environmental community. The Sierra Club, through the Friends of the Foothills alliance used the best tactics of grassroots organizing and direct mail to get the public to take action and organize key advocacy trips to Sacramento for grassroots campaigners (including myself).

NRDC, Endangered Habitats League, California Coastal Protection Network, California State Parks Foundation, The City Project, and a host of other organizations and consultants also provided the political and legal savvy to help derail the toll road. Additionally elected officials such as Susan Davis, Christine Kehoe, Lori Saldana, Pam Slater Price and a variety of California elected city officials provided their strong endorsement and created legislation to ensure the protection of San Onofre. Overall this was as sophisticated environmental coalition and campaign I have seen.

Diversity Counts: One of the most cogent arguments made to the Coastal Commissioners was that obliterating San Mateo Campground and San Onofre Beach State Park was an issue of environmental health and justice. The recreational users of San Onofre State Beach Park are among the most culturally diverse of any coastal state park in California. On any given day in San Onofre State Beach Park you can talk quad design with Chinese-America surfers from Irvine, admire the grace of multi-cultural cross-county high school running teams from San Clemente traversing the park’s trails, marvel at the prowess of some of the world’s best Hispanic surfers, and listen to conversations “In about four different languages” according to Pat Zabrocki of Surfshot Magazine  in an interview with Treehugger Radio.

At the commission hearing, Los Angeles civil rights and environmental attorney, Robert Garcia  and Acjachemen activist Rebecca Robles and other Native American leaders, provided a moving and passionate defense of San Onofre as a critical site for providing access to open space and recreational resources for underserved communities. The San Mateo Creek watershed is actually Panhe, a key Acjachemen religious, historical, and ceremonial site. The involvement of Latino, African American, Asian-Pacific Islander and Native American organizations in the Save San Onofre coalition only underscores the need for the environmental movement to dramatically expand its attempt to reach out to underserved communities and people of color. This is not just an issue of tactics and strategy but a moral and ethical imperative that will help us reclaim the heart and soul of the environmental movement.

The Surf Industry Flexed its Muscles: The multi-billion dollar surf industry is relatively young and just starting to flex its political muscles (please note that WiLDCOAST receives financial support from a number of surf companies and the SIMA trade association). The surf industry was an active participant in this campaign and was out in full-force for the Commission hearing. This is a very positive and welcome sign for the future of the coastal protection movement in California and worldwide.

The TCA’s Arrogance: Alex Brant-Zawadzki, a feisty writer The OC Weekly said it best in a recent blog  (“Why the Toll Road is Dead”).

..the root cause of the Transportation Corridor Agencies' failure to gain Coastal Commission approval for their Final Solution to San Onofre State Beach: ARROGANCE.

The TCA overreached by attempting to ram a private toll road through one of California’s most beloved state parks and global ground zero of the surfing world. The secretive agency must have believed that surfers and the people of California would sit idly by while it paved over paradise. The TCA blew it.

This battle is far from over. The TCA will take it case to the U.S. Department of Commerce, but the decisive nature of the Coastal Commission decision proves that in California, it is a bad idea to mess with our state parks.

Originally published in the Voiceofsandiego.org


-- SERGE DEDINA

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

---

Park Toll Road Plan Rejected in California