Malibu – September 27, 2010 – Save Malibu Lagoon: and the Wetlands Defense Fund will hold a rally and march from the Malibu Pier to the Malibu Lagoon, Saturday, October 2nd, at 1 pm.  Surfers, birdwatchers, animal lovers, environmentalists, schoolchildren, local residents and others concerned about the plan to dredge and poison the lagoon will be on hand to protest the plan that goes before the California Coastal Commission on October 13th in Oceanside.

The plan calls for the three charming and well-maintained bridges on the main walk path to be ripped out and trashed. Birdwatchers will be deprived of up-close bird viewing opportunities, nature observers and schoolchildren will be unable to experience intimate environmental education moments and surfers will have to take a longer and less convenient route to the beach and the ocean waves.

According to Wetlands Defense Fund’s Marcia Hanscom, the badly designed plan calls for bulldozers to arrive at the start of visitor season in June, 2011 to excavate and grade 88,700 cubic yards of mud and wetland habitat – killing or displacing most plants, fish and animals and removing shelter and food sources for those not otherwise harmed.   In addition, contractors will dewater (drain) the entire lagoon west of the creek channel to transform the site from a series of environmentally-friendly marshy islands into an area with a rock-defined, hard-edged channel and more watery area, but less land, which serves as home and food for the animals.

Hanscom says the engineering firm of Moffat & Nichol drew up the plan after being directed to do so by a technical team which met with little public input.  “A private nonprofit organization called Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation is listed on the Coastal Commission staff report as the ‘agent,’ “ Hanscom says.  “It seems like millions in bond money are available to anyone who has good political connections and hatches an ill-informed scheme, even if it destroys a living ecosystem.”  She says those who are on record supporting the plan include Heal the Bay and the California State Parks Department.

Wetlands Defense Fund, CLEAN (Coastal Law Enforcement Action Network), Access for All, surfers and residents who are opposed to noise, dust and damage to their animal neighbors are outraged.  Birdwatchers who have recently observed the resurgence of imperiled species are opposed to the plan.  Hanscom added that Glyphosate, a poison named in the proposed plan to kill non-native plants, has been opposed by stakeholders in the Topanga Watershed Council for many years.  For that reason, some of those are opposed to this plan, as well.

The California Coastal Commission is scheduled to grant a permit for the proposed project at its October 13 hearing in Oceanside.   While under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was prepared, no EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) as required by federal law, was prepared even though a federally endangered species listed on the endangered species list will be harmed.

“Many people have asked me why the State of California is funding such a massive project when the state budget is in such a disastrous state,” Hanscom says.  “As we understand it, the funds will come from State water and wildlife conservation bonds, and Proposition 50 bond money has been allocated in the amount of more than $1 million to manage, review and design this flawed plan.  A plan that does not conserve wildlife should not qualify for these bonds.”

Those marching are urged to bring signs supporting the wildlife and the bridges to the beach public access.  For more information, visit www.savemalibulagoon.com, call 310-578-5888, and join Save Malibu Lagoon on Facebook and @saveourlagoon on Twitter.  To make a donation, visit http://ihcenter.org/groups/wdf.