Bolsa Chica and the Coastal Commission

In 1972, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 20, an initiative measure that created the original, but temporary, Coastal Commission. The state legislature made the Commission a permanent state agency in 1976, charging it with protecting California’s coastal resources and the right of the public to access the coast. The law created a governing body of Coastal Commissioners to oversee these responsibilities.

Years ago there was a Coastal Commissioner who had a way with words. The newspapers loved his “Species come, species go, it’s just a natural process” speech in San Francisco as part of his argument that we shouldn’t worry about endangered or other species at Bolsa Chica. Instead, he said that the Commission should support a proposal for the construction of a major marina and not worry about protecting the wetland. He represented the Resources Agency on the Commission during the administration of Governor George Deukmejian. Fellow Commissioners nicknamed him “Jabba” after Jabba the Hutt of Star Wars fame, in part, because of the monster-like way he acted. He would have had state professional staffers for breakfast if he could have. Governor Deukmejian said that if he had the votes he would get rid of the Commission. The saving grace was that “Jabba” was so bad at his job and sometimes so incompetent that he didn’t have much credibility and didn’t get the job done. He told his fellow Commissioners that it was his job to bring down the Commission and the word was that he had one year to do it if he wanted to keep his job. He didn’t do it.

Now he is gone, and the Commission lives on. I am pleased that this is ancient history. However, we should remind ourselves, to paraphrase Peter Douglas, the former executive director of the Coastal Commission: Bolsa Chica is never saved. It forever needs saving. At the Bolsa Chica Wetlands both the threats and the opportunities have changed over the years. Now we are facing the threat of Sea Level Rise to the publicly owned and managed wetland. On the other hand, there are now public agencies and nonprofit organizations devoted to the task of “forever saving” this critical natural resource. Amigos de Bolsa Chica was the original nonprofit organization crucial in seeing that the narrative changed from wetland destruction to wetland protection and restoration. 

With its volunteers, active board members and financial contributions, Amigos continues to play a vital role at Bolsa Chica. I could not be prouder to be associated with such a wonderful group of people.