Patagonia online surf catalog

The latest online Patagonia surf catalog just went live: http://www.patagonia.com/surfcatalog


The Surfers' Point Managed Shoreline Retreat project is featured on page 12. Click on the links to view "Restoring the Shore" video, and read about the watershed connections with Matilija Dam.

California and the World Ocean Conference

On Wednesday September 8, 2010, our West Coast Ecosystem-based Management Network presented at the California and the World Ocean conference in San Francisco. This is the fourth such conference since 1997, intended to "bring together representatives from government, academia, industry, and the public to share ideas and formulate action strategies for the 21st century." Indeed, the conference was a 'who's who' of coastal and ocean policy, with hundreds of attendees from every sector working on ocean issues.

I have attended all of these conferences, and published Managed Shoreline Retreat and Dam Removal: Ecosystem Restoration to Benefit Coastal Resources at CWO '02.



Real Steps to Ecosystem Management on the West Coast

Moderator: John Hansen, Coordinator, West Coast EBM Network
Leesa Cobb, Executive Director, Port Orford Ocean Resource Team
Mark Wheetley, Senior Biologist Specialist, California Department of Fish & Game
Bryan Largay, Tidal Wetland Project Director, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
Dean Wendt, Executive Director, San Luis Obispo Science and Ecosystem Alliance, Center for Coastal Marine Sciences, Cal Poly State University
Paul Jenkin, Ventura Campaign Coordinator, Surfrider Foundation

At California and the World Ocean 2010, the West Coast Ecosystem-Based Management Network will deliver a robust and timely update summarizing the latest advancements of ecosystem management in California and along the West Coast. Network members will spotlight their local ecosystem based management (EBM) activities, as well as the benefits
of their unique coast-wide partnership. The panel session will also draw distinct parallels to the latest developments in national ocean policy, regional ocean governance and the West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health.

Margo's epic paddle

Seattle to San Diego - by canoe - to raise ocean awareness.

Margo is one tough woman, on a mission to help the ocean. Knowing she was on the way, I wanted to do my part to welcome her to Ventura and get out the press. A few e-mails and I had the local paper, KVTA radio, cable TV, a couple of ocean paddlers, as well as contact with the Hokulo Outrigger Canoe Club who I hoped could provide overnight storage for her boat.

After tracking her progress all day, I put in at Emma Wood and paddled with her for a couple of miles around the mouth of the Ventura River - I had hoped to point out the view looking up the watershed to the 6,000 ft mountains, the land-sea connection to which this blog is dedicated. Although it was sunny and 99 degrees in Ojai, we could hardly see the beach through the thick fog. I came ashore at Surfers Point, releasing Margo from the burden of waiting for me on my slow sit-on-top kayak.

The Hokulo crew paddled out to meet her, and the press was there at the Ventura Harbor. She endured an hour of interviews, obviously cold from her all-day paddle from Santa Barbara.

I had organized with June, her one-woman ground support crew, for them to stay in our guest room. After a hot shower we went up to meet with our local Surfriders who were holding a meeting and spaghetti dinner.

I hope our guests remember Ventura, one of their countless nightly stops on the epic paddle along the Pacific coast. I am in awe of Margo's energy and dedication, and June's steadfast optimism.

In the news: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/sep/02/woman-taking-canoe-down-west-coast-stops-in/

Paul Jenkin, Surfrider Foundation Ventura Chapter environmental director, said he had originally hoped to celebrate the passage of legislation banning plastic bags in California when he met up with Pellegrino at sea. But he was disappointed to see the Single-Use Bag Reduction Act, Assembly Bill 1998, defeated by the California Senate Tuesday on a 21-14 vote. “It is disheartening to see elected officials react to industry pressure,” Jenkin said, noting that such bans can be enacted on the local level. “It’s time for the city of Ventura to step up.”





See Margo's video interview here:http://www.surfandriverreport.com/

Matilija Falls access blocked

This summer, public access to a portion of Matilija Creek has been closed by the landowner. The popular hike to Matilija Falls now become 'off limits.'

This has also impacted our steelhead surveys. Biologists have been monitoring this section of creek since 2002, and when the landowner denied access this year it created a data gap in the annual population studies.


A sign at the trailhead shows the private inholdings within the National Forest.


In the news:

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/jun/18/hikers-to-matilija-falls-seek-access-on-private/

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/27/local/la-me-adv-matilija-falls-20100627

http://www.independent.com/news/2010/aug/02/holding-historic-trail/

Last Dam Summer

Good news on dam removal in the State of Washington:

Last April, Olympic National Park began distributing 5,000 "Last Dam Summer" buttons.

Park officials were heralding the 2011 tear-down of the Elwha River's two dams, an estimated $350 million history-making effort to reopen 65 miles of spawning habitat to restore the waterway's once vigorous, now tepid salmon run.

"This is the last summer before big changes come to the Elwha Valley," Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said last week.

The first big change comes in about a week, when Lake Mills closes to the public for eight weeks while a pilot channel is dug to route sediment once 210-foot Glines Canyon Dam and 108-foot Elwha Dam do come down.

The dams' actual demise will not begin until Sept. 15, 2011. The project is scheduled to end by March 2014.

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010308229993#


More info on the Elwah Dam project here: http://www.nps.gov/olym/naturescience/elwha-ecosystem-restoration.htm

Matilija Dam in the news

2 articles in local news this week: 

Matilija Dam removal sees new light Advocates hire facilitator to find best solution for sediment removal By Shane Cohn 08/26/2010 

It’s a classic environmental battle. All groups involved agree that tearing down the Matilija Dam is vital to restoring the endangered Ventura River, as well as restoring the natural ecosystem. But the issue of where to dispose of the 2 million cubic yards of fine sediment trapped behind the dam has continued to delay a decade-long project. In what could be a last-ditch effort to derive a plan, various federal, state, local and environmental organizations have retained a facilitator to manage the problem of solving the fine sediment disposal. ...But Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, doesn’t need a facilitator. He recently cast the Matilija Dam into the national spotlight when he appeared in an American Express commercial broadcast to 41 million viewers during the 2010 Academy Awards in March.

He stood, indignant, in front of the dam and proclaimed, “I’m a dam buster.” And when Chouinard speaks, people listen.

“Notching it down bit by bit, year after year,” said Chouinard. “That’s what I think is the solution.”

Chouinard said that by incrementally notching down the dam, the release of sediments would not pose a biological threat, and Mother Nature would be able to find a way to regulate; she always does.

Full story: http://www.vcreporter.com/cms/story/detail/matilija_dam_removal_sees_new_light/8179/

Matilija Dam removal hits a major block: the sediment behind it 

VCStar, by Zeke Barlow August 24, 2010 

Tearing down Matilija Dam was once touted as a visionary project where many governmental organizations worked with environmental groups to restore an ecosystem that was a victim of the short-sighted hand of man. But after years of planning and negotiating, the project, much like the trapped rocks and sand behind the defunct dam, is stuck. “We basically ended up in a stalemate,” said Paul Jenkin, executive director of the Matilija Coalition, who was against the U.S. Army Corps proposal to permanently store about 2 million cubic yards of fine sediment from the dam along the banks of the Ventura River. The debate over what to do with all that sand and silt has hung up the project indefinitely. Now, an outside professional facilitator is being called in to try to figure a way forward. But even if an agreement is reached, the immediate window to get the more than $150 million in federal funding needed has closed, and it is uncertain when it might open again. 

Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/aug/24/matilija-dam-removal-hits-a-major-block-the-it/ 

More information on this blog: http://www.venturariver.org/search/label/Matilija%20Dam

Matilija Dam mediation

Stumped by the impasse over sediment management, the County Watershed Protection District (District) and the State Coastal Conservancy have decided to convene a professional facilitator to help define what steps are needed to best resolve the fine sediment issue.

According to a letter from the agencies, "The Corps of Engineers are amenable to this approach. The facilitation process will consist of two phases. Over the next several weeks, the facilitator will interview a number of stakeholders representing different organizations and interests to assess their concerns about various options to manage the fine sediments. Following those interviews, the District and the Conservancy may then organize a sediment management study group composed of key stakeholders to engage in a collaborative problem-solving effort on this subject. If there is sufficient community support for convening such a study group, the group would begin meeting in late September or early October. The initial objectives for organizing the study group would be to share information and stakeholder concerns, identify potential data gaps, and develop options and a potential action plan for resolving the issues surrounding management of the fine sediments."