On Thursday, November 11, the Seymour Center at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory, in partnership with KQED Public Television, presents a sneak preview of Coastal Clash, a new documentary that takes an in-depth look at the struggle between public and private interests along the California coast. After the screening, Deanna Zachary, host of KUSP Radio's Talk of the Bay, will moderate a panel discussion on local and statewide coastal issues, including public access, property rights, coastal erosion, and coastal policy.
The sneak preview begins at 6:30 p.m on Thursday, November 11, at the Seymour Center. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. The event is free and open to the public.
Coastal Clash will be broadcast on Friday, November 12, at 9 p.m. on KQED Public Television Channel 9. For more information on coastal issues, educational materials, and repeat air dates, visit the KQED web site at www.kqed.org/coastalclash. Coastal Clash is a production of KQED Public Television in San Francisco.
Gary Griggs, director of UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences and an expert on coastal geology, provided background information for the producers and is featured in the documentary. He will also take part in the panel discussion at the Seymour Center.
"Let's go to the beach" has always been an entitlement of California living, with 80 percent of Californians living within 30 miles of the water's edge. But as urbanization continues to encroach on the 1,100-mile-long coast, our shoreline has come under siege. Development is swallowing up miles of coastline; access to beaches is being cut off; and seawalls may be causing beaches to disappear. A battle is raging around the fundamental question: Whose coast is it, anyway?
Many Californians believe that the passage of the Coastal Act in 1976 and the subsequent creation of the California Coastal Commission and California Coastal Conservancy effectively saved the coastline. But despite the fact that California leads the nation in its protection and management of coastal resources, few locations in the United States rival California for its constant, intense pressure for development or for the politics that plague the operations of the California Coastal Commission.
Coastal Clash travels the California coastline and introduces representatives from all sides of the issue. Environmental experts, coastal scientists, government representatives, community leaders, and property owners reveal the state's history of tension between public and private coastal interests, examine the science of seawalls and their effect on beaches, and offer examples of both failed and successful attempts at coastal development.
Exploring the effects of seawalls, Coastal Clash visits the communities of Solana Beach and Pacifica. Beach access is examined in Malibu and Mendocino County, development in Santa Barbara County, and land trusts in San Luis Obispo County and the San Mateo Coast.
The Coastal Clash project draws upon KQED Public Broadcasting's multiple platforms to offer a public radio companion series, a content-rich web site, and extensive educational outreach.
For more information about the sneak preview, contact the Seymour Center at (831) 459-3800.
