Weather Service predicts heavy rain for Thursday


By on Wed, December 5, 2007

The National Weather Service reports:

A Pacific weather system will reach the North Bay by Thursday morning with rain overspreading the entire San Francisco and Monterey Bay region throughout the day on Thursday.

In general rain totals of 1 to 2 inches are expected by Friday morning. The heaviest rain is expected during the Thursday afternoon and evening commute and will likely cause travel problems throughout the entire San Francisco and Monterey Bay region during this time.

Coastside Land Trust is looking for a new director


By on Wed, December 5, 2007

Following the resignation of executive director Zoe Kirsteen-Tucker, the Coastside Land Trust is recruiting for a new leader.  They describe their mission as "protecting the urban open space of the San Mateo County coast for enjoyment now and for generations to come. We safeguard scenic bluffs, open space, stream corridors and agricultural lands in and around the communities of Half Moon Bay, El Granada, Miramar, Moss Beach, Princeton-by-the-Sea, and Montara." Click below for the complete job description.

Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council meeting Dec 12, Bodega Bay


By on Sun, December 2, 2007

The general public is invited to attend the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary’s Advisory Council meeting to learn more about the sanctuary, its resources, management issues, projects, and public programs.

Bodega Marine Laboratory      
2099 Westside Rd., Bodega Bay      
9:00 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Thursday, December 13, 2007

CLICK below for agenda

Does the public have a right to use Shelter Cove in Pacifica?

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Copyright © 2002-2005 Kenneth & Gabrielle Adelman, California Coastal Records Project.
Shelter Cove. Click for a larger version and location at the California Coastal Records Project.

By on Tue, November 27, 2007

Shelter Cove, just south of Linda Mar, was a popular public bathing spot in Pacifica for decades. Lately, it has been blocked by "No Trespassing" signs.  Pacificans have been tracing the history of the spot to prove to the Coastal Commission that it has historically been a public access point to the coast. Pacifica Riptide has a page devoted to the history of the use of the spot.

The County Times is reporting that the public may be entitled to access to the beach after all.

Under California law, all beaches are actually public property — but only to the mean high tide line, which usually means the wet area of a beach. The law is primarily meant to protect boaters who pull up on beaches, but also applies to swimmers and people walking in that area. Adding a public easement to a beach means ensuring public access to it, in this case along a pathway into Shelter Cove.
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Lizelle Saure, a Shelter Cove resident for over four years, says people regularly visit the beach on weekends and are often told to leave.

"They litter, they chase the birds. On sunny days, it happens all the time," she said.

The steep pathway residents use to get to their homes is the same roadway cars used to take to get to the beach in the 1930s and 1940s, but it is washed out and is difficult to walk on.

"We’d be so endangered by having people on our paths at night," Saure said.

If the Coastal Commission staff finds there is enough evidence to warrant a legal case, it won’t begin for at least a year. Only after it gets a ruling from a judge, can the Commission negotiate with the land’s owner.

You can read about beach access rights on the Coastal Commission’s website. Be sure to read Julia Scott’s excellent story at the County Times site for the full details.

 

USFWS reconsidering reduction in red-legged frog habitat


By on Tue, November 27, 2007

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reversed seven rulings, including a reduction of critical habitat for the California red-legged frog, reports the Associated Press.

The rulings came under scrutiny last spring after an Interior Department inspector general concluded that agency scientists were being pressured to alter their findings on endangered species by Julie MacDonald, then a deputy assistant secretary overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Service.

MacDonald resigned her position last May.

Rahall in a statement said that MacDonald, who was a civil engineer, "should never have been allowed near the endangered species program." He called MacDonald’s involvement in species protection cases over her three-year tenure as an example of "this administration’s penchant for torpedoing science."
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In her three years on the job, MacDonald also was heavily involved in delisting the Sacramento splittail, a fish found only in California’s Central Valley where she owned an 80-acre farm on which the fish live.

POST adds 204 acres in El Granada’s back yard

Press release

By on Tue, November 27, 2007

Today the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) announced the purchase of 204 acres of hillside land near El Granada. The property is surrounded by the magnificent 4,262-acre Rancho Corral de Tierra property, acquired by POST in 2001, that is destined to become part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA).

"This purchase helps complete an important and much larger conservation picture along this part of the San Mateo Coast," said POST President Audrey Rust. "It provides new options to connect Rancho Corral de Tierra to surrounding protected lands and greatly expands opportunities for the region’s network of scenic hiking trails."

In an agreement finalized November 19, POST bought the ridge-top property for $3 million from Daniel and Virginia Gregerson, who owned the land since the mid-1980s. The purchase fills in a natural gap along the eastern boundary of Rancho Corral de Tierra, which Congress voted to include within the GGNRA in 2005. POST is now working to secure $15 million in federal appropriations so it can transfer ownership of Rancho Corral de Tierra to the National Park Service, which owns and manages the GGNRA.

The new acquisition by POST is visible not only from Rancho Corral de Tierra but also from San Francisco watershed land to the east and POST’s 461-acre Wicklow property to the southwest. With more than 27,000 acres of protected open space in the area, this latest purchase helps prevent inappropriate development from occurring next to these sensitive natural lands.

In addition to its strategic location, POST’s newest property contains a portion of the Denniston Creek watershed as well as a tributary to Locks Creek in the Frenchman’s Creek watershed. The land’s natural resources are an extension of the unique and fragile habitats found on Rancho Corral de Tierra, where a number of threatened and endangered species have been documented.

Photo: Inspecting Francis Beach

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Barry Parr
A cleanup crew from American Pollution Control was patrolling Francis Beach this morning looking for material from the Cosco Busan oil spill. They weren't talking, but it didn't appear they'd found much.

By on Mon, November 26, 2007

MROSD holding open house for the La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve plan

Press release

By on Sat, November 24, 2007

Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) has released the La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve Draft Master Plan.  Members of the public are invited to learn about and study the Draft Plan recommendations in preparation for an upcoming public hearing.

The meeting will be an informal event where members of the project team will be present to answer your questions.  This is an opportunity to preview the Plan and provide early input.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Ana Ruiz, Project Planner, at [email protected] or (650) 691-1200.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
The Mountain Terrace
17285 Skyline Boulevard
Woodside, California 94062
(At the corner of Skyline Boulevard (Highway 35) and Woodside Road (Highway 84), across the street from Alice’s Restaurant)

Oil spill news: Local fishermen sue, Oregon fishermen move in, beaches open


By on Wed, November 21, 2007

In two separate suits, fishermen have sued Hong Kong-based Regal Stone Ltd., the owner of the Cosco Busan; Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. of Korea, which leased the ship; and Synergy Maritime Ltd. of Cyprus, described as the employer of the Chinese crew, as well as the local pilot of the vessel, reports the Examiner.

Oregon fishermen have offloaded in Monterey nearly 100,000 pounds of live Dungeness crab caught hear the Farallones.  "The whole thing is totally disheartening," said Larry Collins, president of the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association. "We’re trying to do the right thing here. We need to know the crab are safe before they get to the buyers and consumers."

San Mateo County beaches remain open despite few new tar balls washing up on the shore, reports the County Times. "Another cleanup ensued on Sunday that included those beaches, as well as Montara State Beach and Thornton State Beach in Daly City, said Beverly Thames, spokeswoman for the county Health Department.", reports the County Times.  Fitzgerald Marine Reserve was still closed on Monday, according to Thames.

Opinion: Give green—no, not cash—for Christmas

Opinion

By on Wed, November 21, 2007

This is a time of year when we could seriously endanger the earth further, simply by trying to be good to each other and give each other gifts. I’m usually someone who likes to give the latest and greatest technology, like robotic vacuum cleaners or iPod shuffles, but this year I’m doing something completely different.  I’m going to make my gifts part of the solution, not part of the landfill.

Greensender which launched recently, offers a box of goodies that can make you feel somewhat less guilty about gift giving. From the convenience of your office (no driving to the mall), you can order a box that contains a re-usable plastic water bottle, a recycled cotton t-shirt, a re-usable canvas grocery bag, and a compact fluorescent light bulb.

This package can help your friends and relatives get started on the sustainability trail without making gigantic sacrifices. The philosophy of the Greensender is that even small changes can make a differences, and that no one thing is going to save the planet. It’s a matter of everyone doing a little something.

Another "green giving" site, Let’s Go Green, sells eco-friendly products for the home.  It sells paper, plastic, light bulbs, lighting, and canvas totes, and it encourages green giving. On its home page is one fairly shocking statistic: if every family replaced one roll of toilet paper with a recycled roll, we’d save a mllion trees, and if every household replaced one light bulb with a CFL, it would be like taking a million cars off the road.

While these statistics sound too optimistic for me, I hope they encourage everyone to consider giving things that help the earth rather than things that pollute it. The One Laptop per Child program makes an eco-friendly, inexpensive laptop designed for use by children in developing countries. But there’s no reason American children can’t use it as well, and for the next week OLPC is running a promotion where you can give one laptop away and get one free for a child in your life.

Last, Amazon.com has a book called Simply Green by Danny Seo, that teaches you to make wrappings, ornaments and decorations from every day materials.

So there’s no excuse this holiday season for the plastic trash bags full of cast off boxes, bags, wrappers, and garbage that have been the byproduct of past Christmases.

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