Belly Up Anniversary Series

Belly Up Anniversary Series

This year, Belly Up rolls into our 33rd year, and to celebrate our anniversary, we want to give back to the patrons for supporting the club throughout the years. The talent department has booked Belly Up favorites and slashed the ticket price to only $7!!! Fans will be able to see their favorite Belly Up bands for about half of the usual admission price.

*July 18 – B-Side Players: Album Release Party!
*July 25 – Greg Laswell w/Get Back Loretta & Derren Raser
*Aug 1 – Cowboy Mouth
*Aug 8 - TBA
*Aug 15 - ALO w/Culver City Dub Collective
*Aug 22 - Grand Ole Party, The Creepy Creeps & The Muslims
*Aug 29 – Marc Ford w/The Swedish Models

**Other bands soon to be announced. Check bellyup.com for updates.

Next Chapter Meeting

The next Chapter Meeting is Wednesday July 18th at the Homeblown surfboard blank factory!
Please note that the meeting is NOT at Forum Hall again this month, join us on site at a local eco-friendly surfboard manufacturer "Homeblown US" for this month's chapter meeting.

Ned McMahon, the general manager of "Homeblown US", will share what they are doing to help the "Surfing World Go Green" and will bring us behind the scenes to share with us their Biofoam technology as well as allow us to tour the manufacturing facility of their boards. Also, Ellen Shively will share the vision of a local community coalition formed called "The San Diego Coastal Habitat Coalition" who have united to try to save the harbor seal colony in La Jolla by winning approval for a San Diego Coastal and Marine Sanctuary and how the Marine Mammal Protection Act plays a role to save the seals. Ned and Ellen will be available to answer questions after they speak. We will also update you on other local issues, programs and events along with ways for you to get more involved with Surfrider right now. The meeting is from 7 to 8:30pm and doors open at 6pm so you can tour the facility and enjoy refreshments. Homeblown US is located at 10326 Roselle Street #103 in San Diego 92121, basically just south of the 5 and 805 merge. Click here for directions

The Time to get Involved is NOW!

The Surfrider Foundation is getting ready for the busiest part of the year and could really use your help. If everyone can help at one or two events each, everything will be well covered, more effective and more fun. There is a wide variety to choose from all over the county:

Saturday June 16th 10:00 to 11:30am Core Volunteer Training. Do you want to know more about Surfrider and how to make the most of your volunteer experience? This 90 minute workshop is perfect. It is not required for volunteering at any of our events, but strongly recommended. This time the good folks at Patagonia Cardiff are offering their outdoor patio, adjacent to the store, for our use. We should have plenty of space, but seats are limited so bring a beach or camping chair if possible. Please email me or belinda@surfriderSD.org to rsvp for this.

Beach Cleanups:

We need three people to help lead each cleanup which includes getting everyone signed in, their supplies and checking everything out at the end. Let me know if you can help.....

6/9 (this Sat) 8:30 to 11:00am Oceanside at Buccaneer Beach.
6/23 (Sat) 8:30 to 11:00 Pacific Beach - Crystal Pier.
6/30 (Sat) 8:30 to 11:00 Mission Beach - Belmont Park.
7/5 (TH) 7:30 to 11:00 Morning After Mess! at seven sites in SD County. We still need a site captain for the Oceanside and Tourmaline sites and three other volunteers to help there and at PB Drive in Pacific Beach. This is our largest cleanup event of the year and get great media coverage while picking up heaps of trash.

International Surfing Day on the summer solstice, June 21st 6-8pm

Our chapter meeting this month is moved back one day to Thursday the 21st to celebrate International Surfing Day and the summer solstice. We are hosting at two locations, Belmont Park and Cardiff, and asking everyone to come out to enjoy the surf, help with a beach cleanup or just get their toes in the sand. We are looking to get food for each location and Surfing magazine is helping with some special surprises at the Belmont location. We can use four people helping organize at each location, just show up between 5 and 5:30, let me know if you are interested.

Ocean Beach Street Fair: Saturday June 23rd

Shifts: 9am to 2pm or 2pm to 7pm This street fair is always interesting and fun. We have a great location secured by the beach and close to the main music stage, just need some people the booth and a leader for each shift that can be responsible for the supplies. Please reply if you are available for a whole or partial shift.



Trestles camping Friday 6/22 - Sunday 6/24

We are having a camp out and awareness event at the San Mateo campground a mile upstream from the Trestles surf breaks. We have six sites reserved and a few open spots remain if you are interested in camping on Friday and Saturday night. On Saturday there will be a host of activities available. Please email me Stefanie if you are interested or have any questions. SSekich@surfrider.org If possible, let us know:

- Will you be attending the Saturday activities (Trestles workshop, lunch, hiking, surfing, beach cleanup, etc)? We are hoping to have media there, so even if you can't camp, we'd love to have as many bodies there on Sat….
- Will you be camping both nights (if not indicate which night you will camp)?
- How many people are in your party? (More people using less tents is preferred, let us know if you have extra room in your tent)

"TRESTLES" CAMPAIGN SCORES BIG

"TRESTLES" CAMPAIGN SCORES BIG
Back To Back Wins Aid Effort To Protect Surf Break and State Park Washington D.C. (May 11, 2007) - Late Wednesday night the House Armed Services Committee passed an amendment to the National Defense Act that included language which now forces the TCA to comply with the same California state laws as other developers in obtaining approval to construct the proposed toll road. The amendment, which was submitted by Rep. Susan Davis of San Diego and supported by Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Orange County, was needed to counter several exemptions from state and federal environmental laws which the TCA had secretively garnered over the past several years.

"With these exemptions, the TCA had a trump card in their back pocket, which they could have used to avoid full compliance with environmental laws," said Surfrider Foundation Assistant Environmental Director, Mark Rauscher. "This vote is a victory for protecting park lands everywhere and upholding state laws."

Surfrider Foundation and its partners applaud Davis' efforts to level the playing field.

In other good news word came down late Thursday morning that the California District Court of Appeals had sided with the Surfrider Foundation and other environmental organizations and ruled that a suit filed by the Save Trestles/San Onofre coalition against the TCA for violating the California Environmental Quality Act must be heard in San Diego County (the TCA of course wanted the case to be tried in Orange County).

"The ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeals is a clear sign that this issue impacts more than just the residents of South Orange County," said Surfrider Foundation's Matt McClain. "If completed as planned, this toll road project will have direct and adverse impact on San Diegans, and very likely destroy precious resources that belong to the public at large."

While these two decisions do not yet represent the final nail in the coffin for the proposed toll road extension, they are two big steps towards that direction!

Please take a moment to thank Susan Davis for taking the initiative! Drop a quick email or call her district office to thank her for working to save Trestles by making sure the TCA follows state and federal laws. Click here to send her an email: http://www.house.gov/susandavis/IMA/contact.html Or call Congresswoman Davis' District Office (619) 280-5353
Thanks for your support!

PS - Within the next few weeks we will be conducting a volunteer training for the Save Trestles Campaign. If you want to get more involved, or if you just want to know more about this issue, we’d love to have you attend the training! We will be sending an e-vite soon, but in the meantime, get ready to help us SAVE TRESTLES!! We need to capitalize on our recent victories and we have a lot of work to do. Stay tuned!

Don't forget!

Karl Strauss presents the Beach to Brewery Beer and Music Fest on Saturday May 12th

The annual Beach to Brewery Beer and Music Fest is coming up. Featuring 10 beers on tap, live music by B-Side Players, Reeve Oliver, Stranger, and Grand Ole Party. Brewers will be tapping some small batch specialty beers in Firkin Kegs (when they are gone, they are GONE!).

Don't miss it. Pre-sale tickets are available on-line for $15 and $20 at the door. The event sold out last year so get tickets while you can. Your entry fee includes 5 tasters and the concert.

Food will be available for purchase from Wahoo's Fish Tacos, Mountain Mike's Pizza, and San Diego Pretzel Company.

Complimentary shuttles will be provided from the Pacific Beach Library and in Ocean Beach at Dusty Rhodes Park. Shuttles will run to and from the event.

Drink responsibly. 21 and up only event. No exceptions. Bring your ID.

Saturday, May 12th 2007 from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Karl Strauss Pacific Beach Brewery, 5985 Santa Fe Street.

For more details and to purchase tickets, visit karlstrauss.com

Myspace please VOTE!

The Surfrider Foundation has been named a Finalist for this month's MySpace Impact Awards, in the category of Environmentalism. Ending tonight, MySpace users will select a winner from among the three nominees. This is a great opportunity to celebrate the efforts of our Foundation and its chapters on MySpace. The winner of the Impact Awards receives a ridiculous amount of exposure on Myspace and $10,000!!

We are currently losing by .2% and we need as many people as possible to vote! If you have a personal page or are in charge of a chapter page, please log on and vote at www.myspace.com/impactawards <http://www.myspace.com/impactawards> and also post bulletins and blogs and encourage your friends to vote. Encourage chapter members and activists to log on.

Foothill-South: Your road-map to inegalitarian whims

It is important to pave roads and highways to provide vital services to inhabited areas, but what the Transportation Corridor Agency has in mind for San Onofre State Beach is definitely not necessary or popular.

The Foothill-South SR-241 toll road extension will do nothing to reduce rush-hour traffic congestion on the Interstate 5, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority's long-range plan for 2006 but will be destructive to the environment and state parkland around it.

The main problem I have with this project is its implications for the future of the parkland. According to the 1997 mitigation assessment of the toll road's impacts on San Onofre State Beach, the California Department of Parks and Recreation says it will be forced to abandon more than 60 percent of San Onofre State Beach after the toll road's construction. The Transportation Corridor Agency gained exemption from the Federal Highway Transportation Act Section 4S, which would have forced it to prove there are no alternatives to building through state parkland, through an obscure rider in Section 2851 of the 2000-2001 Federal Defense Appropriations Bill.

This is sickening. We have all heard of unnecessary appropriations being stuck into huge bills in Congress, and this is no exception. If the TCA could obey the laws set in place by the Department of Transportation, would it have sought an exemption? Hardly. Regulation on the development of state parklands is now in jeopardy and will set a precedent for future parkland to be paved over for the interests of private organizations nationwide. On the surface, these profit-based projects look appealing to the Monday morning businessperson sitting in rush hour, but as was proved with this toll road, they may never benefit the public.

The myth is that San Onofre State Beach does not really belong to the California Department of Parks and Recreation because it was given to the state agency by the U.S. Navy under a 50-year lease. The Navy issued the lease, but California law under section 11011.7 specifically states the intent and jurisdiction of the San Onofre parkland: "All real property acquired for park and recreation purposes by the state which was formerly part of Camp Pendleton shall be used solely for park and recreation purposes, and no part thereof shall be declared surplus or disposed of."

The park is important to the San Diego community. San Onofre State Beach is the fifth most-visited California state park. The California parks department stresses that San Onofre State Beach and the adjacent Donna O-Neil Land Conservancy are homes to numerous archaeological sites; the popular San Mateo Campgrounds as well as other recreation areas; Trestles Beach, home to internationally renowned epic surf; and almost a dozen federally listed endangered species that will be displaced directly due to the toll road's adverse affects.

Numerous cities, such as Los Angeles, Laguna Beach and San Francisco have voted against construction for the road. Former California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed suit against the TCA in 2006. Environmental groups are fighting back, including the Surfrider Foundation, the National Resources Defense Council and the California Coastal Commission.

I agree with Bill Hickman, coordinator of the Surfrider Foundation's San Diego chapter, when he says, "It's such a rare thing to have the experience of walking on natural land and undeveloped beach. Deep down, I know it's something that needs to be saved."

Get involved. Save Trestles!

Written by:

Kenneth Pico
Surfrider Club Member, San Diego Chapter and student at High Tech High Media Arts.