The need for a special meeting is to review, revise, and approve or deny a proposed draft Midcoast Community Council’s letter in response to the Negative Declaration public comment period which runs through 5:00 p.m. that same day.

The public is encouraged to attend the meeting to provide comments and input on the letter.

The meeting details are as follows:

Monday Aug 16, 2010 from 12 noon to 1pm
San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office
Sheriff’s North Coast Substation
Conference Room
500 California Ave
Moss Beach, CA 94038
650-573-2801 (Office)

The draft of that letter to be discussed is provided after the jump. Here’s the conclusion:

Although the proposed negative declaration has not found significant public support, the process itself has been illuminating and some excellent ideas were put forth in terms of compromise solutions involving alternative, permeable trail surfaces, different replacement footbridge configurations, and changes to the ramp down to the tidepools that likely could garner broad public support.

By including the public in the process, we believe that there is a win-win situation here that will allow a narrower trail with permeable surfacing and more narrow footbridge in line with the current configuration that would be welcomed by the majority of residents and still provide the much needed accessibility and usability improvements sought by the County and consistent with Fitzgerald Marine Reserve’s master plan.

For these reasons, we take our position against the current Negative Declaration for PLN 2010-00093 but look forward to being involved in helping to revise and build support for a revised set of plans for this area.

The Fitzgerald Marine Reserve is one of the richest, most biodiverse environments in California.

The County of San Mateo is planning to pave a 14’ foot wide asphalt road through the FMR. The plans include building a massive 12’ wide x 60’ foot long bridge over a small creek.

Help convince the County of San Mateo not to bulldoze and pave the Dardenelle Trail.

Please SIGN THE PETITION: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-FMR/

If approved this project would have negative impacts on wildlife, plants, trees and a Native American Archeological site near San Vicente Creek.

Thank you,
AREA29
www.thepelicaneye.com

Golden Gate National Recreation Area is experimenting with controlled burning at Milagra Ridge near Pacifica to restore habitat for endangered mission blue butterflies. GGNRA expects to do this one day in mid to late August.

The burning will be confined to metal boxes which are 2.5 meters by 2.5 meters in area and 1 meter in height, and rotated to treat 300 square meters total.

The burning will be conducted if weather conditions allow. Smoke from this project will be very minimal, but traces of smoke may be seen or smelled from a distance.Fire management personnel and equipment will be present during all phases of burn operations.

GGNRA managers will compare the effects of fire with vegetation removal and soil scraping to determine if either treatment is more effective at stimulating lupine germination. Lupine plants are critical to mission blue butterflies because they are the sole food source for developing larvae.

This project was originally scheduled for fall 2009, but was cancelled last year due to early heavy rainfall. Sections of the Milagra Ridge Trail may be closed while burning is in progress.

This story is based on a press release from GGNRA.

Worried about coastal erosion, flooding and sea level rise?

Come hear local coastal engineer, Bob Battalio, present an assessment of our challenges and opportunities in an age of climate change. Learn how Pacificans can adapt while maintaining our coastal community, save our natural shores and enjoy the ride.

August 16th 6:30pm to 8:00pm @ Sharp Park Library Community Room, 104 Hilton Way, ?Pacifica.

This post has been updated with details on a second walk and more information about the planning process.

This Sunday, August 8, 2010 at 10:00am and 2:00pm, the board of Midcoast Park Lands is conducting a walk from the parking lot of the Moss Beach Distillery to the Montara Light House.  The primary purpose is to walk the trails in the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve where proposed trail improvements are under review (PLN2010-00183).   

This is an opportunity to view story stakes of the proposed trail location, trail width (14’ wide), bridge location and scale of the proposed bridge (12’ wide x 60’ long).

The public comment period has been extended to August 16, 2010 by 5:00pm.
 
A Negative Declaration has been published for the projects.  Comments should be sent to Mike Schaller (San Mateo County Planning – 650-363-1823 – [email protected]). Information on the plans and the Negative Declaration document are available at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve page of the San Mateo County Parks Web Site/.

The Negative Declaration comments will be an agenda topic at next week’s MCC meeting [MCC].

The optional full walk goes from the north end of de-commissioned Ocean Blvd. to the Montara Light House.  This path affords an opportunity to view potential routes, views and issues involved with completing a route for the California Coastal Trail and a Bicycle Route from Pillar Point to the Montara Light House.  The walks will be led by Len and Gael Erickson and will leave the Distillery Parking Lot at 10:15am and 2:15pm.

Montara Beach Coalition is holding a beach cleanup at Gray Whale Cove, a beautiful beach that doesn’t get a lot of cleanup attention, Saturday, August 7 from noon to 2pm.

Music, Poetry & Art Auction
a Benefit for the Louisiana Bucket Brigade
Saturday, August 7th

Guest poets include:
- Michael Rothenberg
- Lorna Dee Cervantes
- Terri Carrion
- David Madgalene and Judy Irwin.

Featuring
- Blah Blah Woof Woof Ensemble
- Jay Howlett, Rolfe Wyer, Patrick Feehan,
- Tim Seifert, with Jennings and Keller
- and Ian Butler

At:
Shelldance Orchid Gardens,
2000 Highway 1, Pacifica, CA

Admission $5.00 donation
No one turned away for lack of funds!
Refreshments will be served
Sponsored by:
Shelldance Orchid Gardens
http://www.shelldance.com
& The Pacifica Beach Coalition
http://www.pacificabeachcoalition.org

All proceeds go to:
The Louisiana Bucket Brigade
www.labucketbrigade.org

San Mateo County 2009 Beachwater Contamination Results are the second worst in the state. Los Angeles County is the only County in California with more beach closing/advisory days than San Mateo County.

Closing or Advisory Days:

• Aquatic Park (117 days)
• Pillar Point (100 days)
• Lakeshore Park (98 days)
• Fitzgerald Marine Reserve (59 days)
• Oyster Point Marina (53 days)
• Pacifica State Beach (39 days)
• Venice State Beach (28 days)
• Dunes State Beach (23 days)
• Kiteboard Beach (15 days)
• Francis State Beach and Gazos Creek Access (both 13 days)

CGF opposes wide asphalt trail at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve

The Committee for Green Foothills has written a letter opposing the county’s plan for a wide, paved trail inside the Fitzgerald Marine Preserve. The comment period for the proposed trail has been extended to 9am on Monday, August 16. The county has promised to put up stakes showing the coverage of the new trail by Friday, August 6.

The CGF notes that the proposed project is not in compliance with the county’s Local Coastal Program policies regarding environmentally sensitive habitat areas (ESHA), particularly wetlands, as well as the master plan for the marine reserve itself. Among its objections:

• The marine reserve’s master plan says the county should "emphasize the sensitivity of the resource, to enhance the educational value of the Reserve, to manage visitation, and to limit use of the Reserve as a recreation destination."
• The marine reserve’s master plan says, “all trails and paths …shall be surfaced with pervious materials such as decomposed granite”, instead of the asphalt planned by the county, and that pervious surfaces can be ADA compliant.
• The CGF describes the proposed trail as "an overblown paved transportation facility that does not invite people to enjoy and appreciate the natural setting, and connect with nature."
• Changing the location of the existing bridge over San Vicente Creek would increases impacts on riparian vegetation and an archeological site.
• The proposed changes to beach access, including much more extensive rip-rap, will impact the beach.
• There is not enough information in the plan to judge the impact on environmentally sensitive habitat areas (ESHA).

Read the full letter after the jump.

A freshly dead whale spotted near Farallon Island Sunday may have been killed by a ship, according to the Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary

The whale was about 25ft long and had several large wounds: one to two feet long slashes on its flank and the base of its tail. It could not be determined whether the whale was wounded before it died.

At the same time, sanctuary biologists in the area on a research vessel reported that They had been forced to discontinue a cruise along a predetermined route because they encountered a group of feeding humpbacks directly in their path of travel and were forced to stop the vessel to avoid a collision. The humpbacks were feeding so intently they ignored the oncoming boat.

The Sanctuary warns boaters to be careful around feeding whales.