News

9/8/11

The California Coastal Commission has voted unanimously to appoint Dr. Charles Lester to the position of Executive Director, effective today. Dr. Lester has been serving as the Acting Executive Director since former Director Peter Douglas announced his retirement in August.

Dr. Lester will become the fourth E.D. to lead the Commission since its creation in 1972 with the passage of Proposition 20. Prior to his appointment, Charles served as Senior Deputy Director of the Commission, holding that position since 2006. His employment at the Commission began in 1997. Previously, Dr. Lester was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Dr. Lester received his Ph.D in Jurisprudence and Social Policy from the University of California at Berkeley. In addition, he earned his J.D. at Boalt Hall School of Law and a B.A. in Geochemistry from Columbia University.
“The entire Commission recognized and appreciates the unique experience, unwavering integrity, and clear vision Dr. Lester brings to this position. While Peter Douglas leaves very large shoes to fill, Charles fits into them quite comfortably,” said Commission Chair Mary Shallenberger.

Dr. Lester takes the helm of an agency with 142 authorized staff positions and an annual budget of approximately $16 million.

Upon accepting the appointment, Dr. Lester emphasized the ongoing importance Californians place on protecting coastal resources and coastal access. He also acknowledged the importance of improving communications and collaboration with public agencies and local governments along the coast to achieve the purposes of the Coastal Act. He thanked Peter Douglas for his unprecedented leadership and cited the deep dedication and professional skills of the Commission’s staff.

“I am deeply committed to implementing the Coastal Act, but I am also a problem-solver, and I look forward to bringing people together around environmentally sustainable solutions that protect coastal resources and provide maximum public access to the coast for all Californians.”

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9/9/11

A dispute that arose between Arcata city officials and the California Coastal Commission over the city's coastal plan in August was settled Thursday.

Commissioners unanimously approved the portion of the city's Local Coastal Program that deals with land use regulations in Arcata's coastal zone, but at the city's request commissioners did not vote on the portion of the program that deals with how development occurs.

The commission's decision gives the Arcata City Council six more months to review changes coastal commission staff asked it to make to its coastal program in August. The city will use that time to work on the development portion of its Local Coast Program, said Community Development Director Larry Oetker.

”We felt like if we could get our land use plan approved we were 50 percent of the way there,” he said. “And then we can come back and work on our implementation plan.”

The commission's decision comes after the Arcata City Council voted on a resolution Wednesday in favor of the changes commission staff recommended to the land use portion of the program, according to Bob Merrill, the commission's North Coast District manager. In addition to requesting more time to review all of the recommended changes, city officials also believe the changes they agreed to make to the Local Coastal Program are consistent with the California Coastal Act, Merrill said. 

The changes Arcata agreed to address were sea level rise, tsunami hazards, storm water management, wetlands, public access and recreation and visual resources, Oetker said. 

Jennifer Kalt, Humboldt Baykeeper's citizen water monitoring coordinator, said during public comments that she was concerned about the proposed change to the Local Coastal Program that addressed the California Coastal Trail. In McKinleyville, there are signs pointing people to the Hammond Trail portion of the California Coastal Trail, she said. But when the trail crosses into Arcata there are no signs directing people.

”As we know in the current economic climate, it's necessary to have this in the LCP or it's not going to happen,” she said.

Arcata's Director of Environmental Services Mark Andre said the city already has planned a coastal trail through Arcata. The trail will be paid for by a Coastal Conservancy grant, and the environmental study process has begun.

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9/1/11

The fight over whether to maintain California's oil-spill response and prevention program is a classic Sacramento showdown pitting Big Oil against public safety and the environment.

State senators hoping for fat campaign checks from Exxon, BP and other oil companies are trying to, in effect, kill the system started in 1990 in the wake of the catastrophic Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. Did these people sleep through the BP oil rig disaster that devastated the Gulf Coast waters and economy just last year?

Another vote on AB 1112 will take place in the Senate by the end of next week, and this time, it must pass. Gov. Jerry Brown should be calling up senators and reading the riot act.

California's tanker safety program is funded today by a 5-cents-per-barrel fee on oil transported into the state. The program has been effective: The amount of oil spilled here is down 95 percent since 1990. But new laws passed after the tanker Cosco Busan crashed into the Bay Bridge in 2007 added to the workload of the Office of Spill Prevention and Response, while inflation has continued to drive up costs. The agency is doing less today, and without the additional 1.75 cents per barrel proposed in AB 1112, layoffs will be inevitable. Vigilance and the ability to respond quickly to a spill will decline.

Make no mistake: This is not about money. The increase would be a fraction of a penny per gallon, not even a blip for oil companies raking in billions. This is about weakening regulation so that companies can cut corners on safety.

Some lawmakers say the safety system could be more efficient, but most of the changes they suggest are pushed by lobbyists from BP and other oil companies.

The bill authored by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, passed his own house easily, as the Mercury News' Paul Rogers reported this week. But Tuesday in the Senate, it fell four votes short of passage, with 17 yes votes, 14 no and nine who took a pass and didn't vote at all. These are the senators who should be most ashamed.

Their most likely motivation is wanting to avoid either offending Big Oil with a yes vote or angering voters with a no.

State Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco was the most surprising bystander for Tuesday's vote, but he now says he'll support AB 1112. He ought to be helping to round up votes. He wants to be mayor of San Francisco, which saw firsthand the devastation of the Cosco Busan spill.

Another surprise was state Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, who chairs the Senate's committee on energy and has stood up for closer scrutiny of PG&E -- speaking of companies that can't be trusted to place public safety above profits.

And a disappointment was state Sen. Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, who represents parts of Santa Clara County and a huge swath of the California coast. Blakeslee, a former Exxon employee, has sworn he's not in the pocket of big oil, and this would be a perfect way to show it. He and his waffling colleagues need to get off the fence and vote for this bill on the next try.

And be proud of it.

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Aug. 30 Sacramento Bee editorial by Dennis Takahashi-Kelso, Executive Vice President of the Ocean Conservancy.

9/6/11

Nine pelicans and one western gull that were exposed to fish-oil in Crescent City were released today after being washed by dedicated staff and volunteers at the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center.

On August 24 Arcata-based Bird Ally X, a non-profit advocate for wildlife and wildlife rehabilitation, received word of Brown Pelicans in trouble in Crescent City Harbor. Young
pelicans were contaminated with "fish oil." coming from the cleaning stations at the public dock.

The next morning, Bird Ally staff, in partnership with Humboldt Wildlife Care Center went to Crescent City and discovered at least 2 dozen juvenile Brown Pelicans heavily contaminated. Large bins of fish-waste at a local cleaning station were open to the young, inexperienced birds, eager for an easily gotten meal. It takes experience and maturity to get your living from the cold waters of the North Pacific and these birds, fresh from the nest, rely on bays and sheltered coves as training ground for a life at sea. Use to being fed by their parents, it is an easy switch to scavenging and begging. Securing the fish-waste bins was the first step toward solving the problem. An easy fix, HWCC, working with the Crescent City Harbor District, added hinged lids to the bins. Less easy is the rescue and rehabilitation of the impacted wildlife.

"Fish-oiled" birds require treatment almost exactly as if they had been caught in an oil spill. They need first and foremost to be washed, but they also require medical attention, food and medicine. Housing before being washed is needed, as well as housing that provides room to recover and regain strength so that they may be released back into the wild.

Humboldt Wildlife Care Center is committed to providing that care. Had this been a petroleum oil spill, the State of California has in place a response network to care for impacted wildlife. Fish oil however is beyond the legal mandate of this network. While HWCC has the support of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network and California Department of Fish and Game in tackling this problem, the financial cost of the level of care these birds need is high. Each pelican can eat up to 10 pounds of fish every day. We are relying on the North Coast community, and beyond, to help us give these birds another chance.

So far, the HWCC has spent over $4000 responding to this event, not including food - 110 pounds of night smelt every day. 

To donate or volunteer, contact them at

Humboldt Wildlife Care Center, PO Box 4141, Arcata Ca 95518

822-8839

or visit their Oiled Pelican site for updates and more info.