By Brian Baird
Resources Agency of California, Oceans Program

California is nationally recognized as a leader in ocean and coastal management, and the November meeting of the Biodiversity Council in Santa Barbara highlighted some of the important statewide efforts underway. Currently, California is moving forward with efforts to:

• overhaul its entire system of marine managed areas (reserves, refuges);

• develop a master plan for marine protected areas (highly protected areas that exclude marine resource extraction);

• establish an up–to–date statewide shoreline erosion policy;

• implement the state’s recently approved Nonpoint Source Pollution Plan;

• pursue focused efforts to acquire and restore coastal wetlands;

• improve access to, and along, the coast; and

• support the research necessary to manage and protect these resources.

In addition to these efforts, the Governor has just included a $100 million Clean Beaches Initiative in his proposed budget for fiscal year 2001/2002.

The CBC structured the fall statewide meeting to emphasize the biological and governance relationships between land and sea. The first day of events opened with a public forum on polluted runoff followed by tours of coastal resources at Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve and Coal Oil Point Reserve.

Secretary Nichols and the Resources Agency Ocean Program Manager opened the second day of the full Council meeting by emphasizing the importance of California coast and ocean resources in addition to describing some ongoing statewide efforts. Joe Bodovitz from the California Environmental Trust provided an excellent history and context for coastal management while Gary Davis from the Channel Islands National Park helped set the stage for the discussion of management issues off the coast. The coastal discussion titled, Challenges at the Edge, included experts on public access (Linda Locklin, Coastal Commission), shoreline erosion (Kim Sterrett, Boating and Waterways), and wetlands (Paul Michel, Environmental Protection Agency and Joan Hartmann, Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project).

The offshore discussion focused on the challenges raised by the consideration of new marine protected areas off the California coast and the many federal and state processes currently underway. This session used the ongoing Marine Reserve Working Group process underway for the Santa Barbara Channel Islands as a focus for discussion. This process is viewed as a potential national model for evaluating the need for marine protected areas. Experts on this panel included Matthew Pickett (Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary), Patty Wolf (California Department of Fish and Game), Bruce Steele (commercial fisherman), and Warner Chabot (Center for Marine Conservation).

It became clear throughout this two–day event that virtually all aspects of coastal and ocean management are dependent on activities not just on the coast, but ranging from California’s inland watersheds all the way out to the deep ocean.

California’s ocean ecosystem health is dependent on the complex inter–relationships between inland watersheds, enclosed coastal waters (bays, estuaries, and coastal lagoons), nearshore, and offshore ocean waters. All of these areas come together to form the components of California’s ocean ecosystem.

The panel discussions cited several examples of exciting new initiatives to bring the right people to the table to help protect and manage California’s ocean and coastal resources. The challenge for participants in this meeting was to try to better understand how various boards, commissions, and departments from all over the state can more effectively work together with members of the public and industry to help protect and manage these resources.