For Trestles, The Time Is Now

For years the Surfrider Foundation has been working to stop a proposed road through San Onofre State Park.  The proposed Foothill South Toll Road is a six lane highway that will cut through the middle of San Onofre State Park. The toll road will impact water quality, alter the waves at Trestles, gobble up coastal open space, damage important endangered species habitat, and ruin the hiking and camping experience within the Park.
Surfrider is part of a larger coalition including State Attorney General Bill Lockyer, Defenders of Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Endangered Habitats League, Laguna Greenbelt, Audubon California, and the California State Parks Foundation that recently filed a lawsuit against the Toll Road developers because the project violates environmental laws and policies. 
The lawsuit alleges the Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA), and its board of directors, violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by failing to adequately assess significant environmental effects of the road, failing to identify measures that could mitigate those impacts and failing to properly study alternatives that would avoid harm to the environment.
Along with the coalition, the Surfrider Foundation has also been involved in legislation that would make the TCA comply with applicable federal and state laws that they have previously not been required to adhere to. Years of lobbying got the TCA a hall pass to allow construction in the State Park without obeying all the laws. This new legislation, introduced by Susan Davis, restores a level playing field in the world of development.
The Surfrider Foundation has bolstered its grassroots efforts by training numerous volunteers to work on the campaign.  On any given day, there are several volunteers promoting the Save Trestles message by setting up tables at Farmers Markets, going to City Council meetings, and writing letters to elected officials.
The California Coastal Commission (CCC) is the State regulatory agency that has been designed to oversee development that occurs within close proximity to the coastline. In many cases they are the last defense against development projects that are too damaging to the already paved and broken coast that is so important to California. They look after the beaches when politicians and developers do not.
The next important milestone for the Save Trestles campaign will be on October 11, 2007 when the CCC hears an application for the toll road. This is one of the most important meetings in regards to stopping the toll road through the Park. Surfrider activists are renting buses and are aiming to have hundreds of people attend and represent a unified voice against the toll road.
Volunteers are always needed and now more than ever your help is needed. The efforts to stop the proposed toll road will assuredly go down in the history books of the surfing culture as the biggest environmental battle. These are regular people doing something extraordinary. You can join the effort and make your voice heard in several ways:

1) Sign up to become a member of the Surfrider Foundation;
2) Become educated about the issue;
3) Write a letter to the editor of any publication;
4) Send a letter to the California Coastal Commission and the Governator;
5) Slap a Save Trestles sticker on your car and surfboard, or MOST importantly;
6) Call or email the Surfrider Foundation to volunteer your time.
(949) 492-8170 -  SSekich@surfrider.org - www.savetrestles.org
*Patrick Zabrocki also contributed to this article