A 3,000 acre, scenic, coastal canyon park has been saved!  Southern California’s San Onofre State Beach, the object of a fierce battle for more than a decade, will be allowed to continue as is.  It will not be turned into a six-lane highway after all.

     The freeway-building plan was officially put to rest when the U.S. Department of Commerce turned down an appeal by California’s Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA), which, for many years, had been trying to get a state permit to build the road through one of California’s most unusual, most beautiful, and most enjoyed coastal areas. 

     The toll road, which would have connected with the San Diego Freeway, was viewed by its proponents as necessary to reduce future traffic congestion.  However, studies showed that the toll road would actually have worsened traffic conditions.

     The road was opposed by groups of conservationists, surfers, kayakers, swimmers, runners, walkers, birders, and even many Members of Congress and state legislators.  San Onofre State Beach, with its sandstone bluffs, wildlife, and ocean views that sometimes include dolphins, whales, and sea lions, receives 2.5 million visits a year.

     Last year, when the California Coastal Commission turned down TCA’s request for a permit to build the road, the Agency did not take ‘no’ for an answer.  Instead, TCA appealed to the U.S. Commerce Department, arguing that building the road was necessary to national security.  But a Commerce Department poll of more than a dozen federal agencies showed no perceived security need.  Hence, Commerce denied the appeal. 

      Thanks to hard work by a great many people over a very long time, a real treasure has been preserved .  The many bird and other animal species who live at San Onofre, some of whom are threatened or endangered, will be able to continue to live undisturbed.

     The decision not to run a freeway through the state beach is indeed a victory for many species, including us humans.–April Moore

     I thank my friend Gail for the following reflections on spring.  I especially like her image of the pale green dress.  I can visualize the young, new green that seems suddenly to cloak a tree that was bare just a day or two before.–April Moore

     “Spring is such an outpouring!

     “Each and every day certain trees are pushing their leaves out fast and furious.  I look at them and there is a surprise!  Today there are the Azaleas which yesterday had a few dots of color, yet today there are some patches of intense pink.  Can’t wait until tomorrow when they will be fully ablaze.

     “The best for me has been the crepe myrtle in front of my kitchen window.  Each year I worry about it, because it stays brown and lifeless looking.  This year I tried not to worry — but it was nagging at me.  I went away for a day and came back at night, so I did not really look at it.  This morning it is wearing a pale green dress.  What a thrill.  I know that in late July, when most of the tree blooming is past, it will brighten up with red cluster blossoms.  Little moments of pleasure.”

     Sharks are in danger around the world, but legislation now before the U.S. Senate can help change that.  The Shark Conservation Act of 2009 (S. 850), if enacted, will be a major step toward assuring sharks’ survival. 

     Many species of shark have declined by as much as 90% over the last 25 years.  The main reason is “finning,” a cruel but lucrative practice by which fishermen capture sharks and slice off their fins, which bring a high price for use in increasingly popular shark fin soup. 

     To save space onboard, U.S. and foreign fishermen throw the ’de-finned’ sharks’ bodies back into the water. There, they drown or bleed to death.  Tens of millions of sharks die this way every year.  But “shark populations simply cannot withstand this level of pressure,” says Patricia Forkan, president of Humane Society International.

     The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the Shark Conservation Act, which would close a loophole in a 2000 law that, while it forbade throwing sharks’ cut bodies into the sea, didn’t stop U.S. fishermen from buying shark fins from others at sea.   The new legislation closes the loophole in the 2000 law by forbidding the transport of shark fins.  And any sharks brought to shore, the bill stipulates, must be intact.   

     The bill, which Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) introduced in the Senate on Earth Day, “is a huge step forward in the regulation of our shark fisheries and will enable the U.S. to lead the way in the global effort to conserve these vulnerable species,” says Forkan. 

     Sharks matter.  They are important regulators of numerous ocean ecosystems.  The decimation of many shark populations has been blamed for the collapse of rock lobster and scallop fisheries, and for the collapse of coral reef food chains.

     Another point:  while sharks evoke widespread fear, the average number of humans killed in the U.S. by a shark every year is:  one.

     So please contact your two Senators, and urge them to support the Shark Conservation Act of 2009.  Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121, and ask for your Senator’s office.  Once you reach the office, ask to speak to an aide who handles environmental concerns.  If you reach that aide, say you are a constituent, and you feel strongly that the Senator should vote for S. 850.  If you can’t reach the aide, pass on your sentiments to the receptionist.–April Moore

 

     On Monday morning I woke up tired.  Tired from a fun party the day before and from hours of cleaning up after it.  As I stood by the window, I noticed a big, beautiful blue jay out on the ground.  Taking in the splash of bright blue against the greening hillside, I noticed another big blue jay nearby in a tree, then a third flitting to the ground from a low branch.  A fourth flew past. 

      Never before had I seen so many blue jays on our place. 

     Wondering if there were still more blue jays to be seen, I walked out onto the deck and took up my post at the ’viewing stand’–  the railing that surrounds the deck.  That’s the best spot I know for taking in the action at the bird feeder, and for seeing forest to the left, forest to the right, and forest straight ahead down the hill.

     Yes, indeed.   At least a dozen blue jays appeared to be busily engaged–eating at the feeder, pecking at the fallen seeds on the ground under it, trying out one perch and then another in the trees.  So much vivid blue in such a small area. 

     But my eyes would turn from watching all the busy jays whenever one of them took center stage with a spectacular display of wings, fully spread, as it glided through the air from a tree to a distant spot on the ground, or soared from a low branch on one tree to a high branch on another. 

     I delighted to look down at all of the blueness sailing gracefully toward the bird’s intended spot on the ground, or to take in an expanse of white underside of wings and breast, and a throat banded in black, soaring above me, upward to one of the highest branches.

     The display of color and movement was not the only thrill the jays offered.  I was surprised to hear several different sweet, trilling sounds.  I had always thought that the blue jay’s sound was more of a screech.  But apparently, the bird’s repertoire is bigger than I knew. 

     From my perch I savored several songs arising from the jays around me.  One song sounded like “cheery cheery cheery cheer. “   Another had a curious gurgle in its trill.  Some of the sounds were soft, low, and throaty, more like ‘mutterings’ than song.  All these sweet sounds made their way straight into my soul. 

     “Hey, I’m not tired any more,” I realized.  “I feel refreshed, happy, and ready to start the day.–April Moore