It’s been a busy spring for Surfrider in California! We were literally all over the state with the Love Your Beach Tour while chapters up and down the coast were fulfilling our mission to protect and enjoy the ocean, waves and beaches. Here’s a look at some of the ways we have been making an impact.
The Surfrider Love Your Beach Tour had stops from San Diego to Humboldt and wrapped up in Sacramento on Ocean Day to deliver signed postcards to our elected legislators from coast lovers throughout California. Check out the Surfrider CA blogs and Surfrider CA Instagram for highlights.
The Santa Cruz Chapter helped convince the Santa Cruz City Council to vote for an ordinance to Ban The Butt. It’s a law that will ban the retail sales of tobacco products with a plastic filter or tip. It needs a second reading and vote to be official, and we are cautiously optimistic this will pass. It will build on the similar 2024 Santa Cruz County ordinance, and we encourage all cities in Santa Cruz County to pass a similar ordinance to tackle cigarette butt pollution at the source.
Surfrider San Francisco and Surfrider San Mateo participated in the Third Annual SWITCH: An Exhibition of Queer and Trans Surfing, where a good time was had by all. SWITCH is an ocean-centered celebration of gender fluidity, queer expression, and community in the waves and on the beach. Held on unceded Ramaytush Ohlone land, SWITCH has quickly become a cornerstone of queer surf culture in California, and this year’s event was the biggest yet.
Surfrider submitted comment letters to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) urging the federal government to exclude any new offshore oil and gas leases in California from its 5-year Offshore Drilling Plan. We submitted two letters – one focused on Southern California and another on Central and Northern California – highlighting the ecological, cultural, and economic value of these coastal regions and the serious risks posed by continued offshore drilling. The final plan will shape the future of our ocean and coastal communities for years to come. It’s not too late to make your voice heard – tell Congress to protect our coasts!
Speaking of offshore drilling, the Santa Barbara Chapter is working with the Don’t Enable Sable coalition of organizations to stop the restart of the oil pipeline that spilled 140K+ gallons of oil by Plains All American at Refugio in 2015. It’s been a wild ride as Sable, a Texas oil company that now owns the pipeline and associated facilities, ignored a CA Coastal Commission cease and desist order that resulted in an $18 million fine. On the 10 year anniversary of the Plains All American spill, Sable announced that they started producing oil offshore, while we don’t think they have the proper permits to do so. Governor Newsom and Attorney General Bonta have been quiet on the issue so we encourage you to contact them through our action alert.
Surfrider Ventura is running with the national Climate Action Program this year as Surfers’ Point Phase Two nears completion and the chapter takes on a dune restoration project in Port Hueneme. In partnership with the City of Port Hueneme, we’ll be restoring 2.5 acres of coastal dune habitat using nature-based solutions—and we want the community to be at the heart of it.
As part of their long-running SurfWorks Surf Camp (est. 2010), Surfrider Marin again partnered with the San Geronimo Community Center to bring kids from the San Geronimo Valley and Novato to Bolinas for some surf, stoke, and community connection. Ten young campers spent four days riding waves with Bolinas Surf Lessons, enjoying morning and afternoon sessions. When they weren’t in the water, they refueled thanks to the generous support of Bolinas restaurants and stores, and explored other ways to connect with and protect our fragile coastline. Surfrider Marin runs this program to inspire the next generation to love the ocean, learn why it’s important to protect it, and why the ocean needs more friends!
The Long Beach Chapter and 60+ volunteers turned out on the morning of Sunday, June 1st to clean up the riverbed in the area in and around the sea turtle habitat at the San Gabriel River. Their efforts resulted in diverting a total of 3,340 lbs from our waterways. These numbers are quadruple the turnout and results from last year! And they saw sea turtles!!