Sierra Club
Redwood Chapter Newsletter
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Protect Our Great Coastal Places | |
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The Sierra Club's Great Coastal Places Campaign, now in its second year is visiting the Redwood Chapter for a pair of follow-up meetings. This unique and innovative campaign, which was designed to maximize the Sierra Club's effectiveness in protecting the coast, has brought together more than 5,000 activists from Eureka all the way to San Diego with a shared love of the coast and an understanding that working together we can make a difference. "Every day developers and special interests seek to erode coastal protections," says Mark Massara, the Sierra Club's Director of Coastal Programs, but "the Great Coastal Places Campaign is working to protect the 1,100 miles of coast that the state holds in trust for the people of California." The campaign has been extremely successful to date helping to turn out thousands of activists to Coastal Commission hearings, Board of Supervisor meetings and City Council meetings, as well as getting countless activists to send in postcards and letters, or make phone calls to decision makers. Just last month, more than a full year's work paid off when the California Coastal Commission passed a resolution, based on letters and testimony from thousands of Great Coastal Places members. The resolution asked the governor and the state legislature for more power to update Local Coastal Plans. Local Coastal Plans require that coastal region's open space, population, threatened species, industry and pollution be taken into account before any coastal development can be approved. Old and out of date Local Coastal Plans only serve developers and scofflaw communities who don't want to be troubled with having to use accurate and up to date information to make coastal development decisions. |
Mark Massara, who will be in town for both the meetings in Santa Rosa and Eureka, plans to speak about recent coastal victories as well as the new challenges the campaign will face in the coming months. "There are new important battles shaping up on a variety of issues ranging from water quality to offshore drilling to the need to update Local Coastal Plans," said Massara, "and there is a lot that we can do." He will be joined by local Sierra Club leaders who will talk about local coastal threats and present ideas for how people can get involved here at home on our coastal issues. In Santa Rosa, Redwood Chapter Chair Margaret Pennington and in Eureka, North Group Conservation Co-Chair, Diane Beck, will help get people up to date on what is happening with our local coast and how we can make a difference and protect or coast for our children and our children's children. A brochure inserted in this newsletter lists the meeting details and all area residents are welcome for what promises to be an interesting and inspiring evening. More information on the Great Coastal Places Campaign can be found at www.sierraclub.org/ca/coasts/. Learn what you can do to make a difference for your coast. See also the Great Coastal Places Meeting announcement.) For more information you can contact Mark at 415-665-7008 or savethecoast@sierraclub.org. |