Coastal Access Issues on Naturally Mendocino
Wednesday, July 20th 2016 at 6pm on www.mendocinotv.com
Join Skip Taube and guests;
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Loren Rex, of District Superintendent of State Parks
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Marie Jones, City of Fort Bragg Community Development Director
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Charlie Lorenz, Co-founder of Abalone Watch and host of “The Abalone Hunter”.
Wednesday, July 20th 2016 at 6pm on www.mendocinotv.com
Naturally Mendocino will have their telephone open for callers at (707)964-0101. Call in to ask questions of the guests or make comments on the subject. We will be discussing diverse issues relating to public access to public lands and recreational resources.
- The Mendocino Headlands State Park access upgrades.
- Fishing access.
- Sightseers and Photographers access to the views.
- Abalone hunter’s access to traditional dive spots.
- Boat launching access
- Glass Beach, State Park vs City of Fort Bragg regulations
- Drones.
- Bicycles
- Speed limits and passing guidelines
- Trail access
- Helmet law
- Alcohol where and when and what are the rules and permit guidelines
- Handicap issues with wheeled and/or motorized assistance
- Are government and not for profit events exempt from the fees, permits and guidelines
- Dogs
- Iron Rangers and fees for parking
- Hours of use and parking
Pity Skip felt the need to use the “slippery slope” fallacy concerning law enforcement, law enforcement officers use their own discretion in most all cases.
I don’t want to live in a town where the letter of the law trumps the spirit of the law.
i said ‘selective enforcement of laws’ was a slippery slope.
Great discussion, lot’s of valuable info exchanged, and making clear that changes to trails, access, etc., can happen, so glad you facilitated it.
First, kudos to the city for the planned steps to Soldier’s cove beach. At least that access will be open. Also, about time they put the handrail on the steps at Site #2. I had a report of someone being injured about 2 weeks ago.
In my opinion the steps should never have been put in and the old access through the rocks should have been used as there are hand holds there and that would have greatly limited traffic onto that beach.
Marie Jones said they were afraid of lawsuits if someone fell, which is ridiculous as no has ever sued for falling off the rocks on our beaches. Instead she put in ridiculously dangerous steps that will definitely lead to lawsuits so she could see weeds growing along the old path. Marie has a real thing about plants that could be growing on our well established volunteer trails. The plants have more rights than the people.
Regarding the legality of taking the glass, it is not archeological, as Loren says. To be archaeological it must be more than 100 years old, not 50. This is a matter of the legal definition. Google it.
As there is no state law against taking sea glass, there is no law against it on state public domain land. If it was illegal in Fort Bragg, it would also be illegal throughout California. The only place I know if where it is actually considered archaeological is the islands in Boston harbor that were Revolutionary war forts.
The parks have not ticketed anyone, though they have had people put the glass back.
Also, Loren said the glass is a rock. It is not a natural rock and is not protected. It is man made trash.
Once again Marie Jones was untruthful. They were not ticketing for “buckets”. They were ticketing for any amount. The woman who came into the museum only had a little bit in her cup.
They say they will allow a few pieces, but not buckets. I had one grandmother tell me she “knew it was illegal” but took a few pieces anyway. Lots of people tell me that. 2,000 visitors a day x 3 pieces per = 6,000 pieces per day.
The point is that the whole “it is illegal” approach is not working. All day long people tell me about everyone taking the glass. Is the city going to send down officers and have them ticket 50 people every time they go to the beach? That would be great for tourism, wouldn’t it?
People also tell me that if they had known it was important to the marine environment they wouldn’t have taken it. Education will work far better than the current, illegal, approach.
I do not accept that we cannot resume re-cycling our glass through our beaches instead of trucking it to a landfill in Nevada. I’ve been lied to by Marie Jones so often I can’t rust anything she says anymore.
The Coastal Commission told me that the city council is the local Coastal Act authority and they can just do it if they want ot. The Water Quality Control Board also said they hve no problem with it.
The glass at Glass Beach, adjacent to the state park area, used to b 7 feet thick. 95% of that glass was locally recycled, used in pathways (Guest House Museum), gardens, flower pots, fish tanks, birdbaths, stepping stones, patios, mosaics and other forms of art.
People didn’t just start taking it. People were taking it when it was till a dump. As soon as it isn’t sharp it has a multitude of uses.
Capt. Cass Forrington
Sea Glass Museum
[…] On July 20th, Mendocinotv.com live streamed an interview with CDD Marie Jones and head park ranger Loren Rex. It can be viewed here: https://mendocinotv.com/2016/07/19/coastal-access-issues-on-naturally-mendocino/. […]