Marine Reserve

The City Council on Tuesday honored the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition for its successful campaign to include Laguna Beach in the California network of marine reserves. "I have seen these people in action," said Mayor Toni Iseman, one of the four council members to support the reserve in Laguna. "They are formidable. " The California Fish and Game Commission voted 5 to 0 to designate Laguna's shoreline as a marine reserve, thanks in part to Bluebelt members' constant presence at local and state hearings.

The Marine Life Protection Act was signed into law by Gov. Gray Davis in early 1999. What the law did was direct the state to design and manage a network of protected marine areas, including an improved marine reserve component to protect marine life and habitats, marine ecosystems, natural marine heritage, as well as improve recreational, educational and study opportunities. There are three types of marine protected areas (MPAs) that can be established: ?state marine reserves, which prohibit recreational fishing and all other forms of recreational and commercial ?

Fishing or lobster catching off most of Laguna Beach could soon be illegal. Six miles of Laguna Beach could be declared a “no-take” zone for any form of marine life under a recommendation approved Tuesday by the Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon Task Force. If the task force proposal for a state marine reserve is adopted by the Fish and Game Commission, the coast from Crystal Cove State Park to Aliso Beach would be off-limits to fishermen from the beach to about three miles out to sea, according to MLPA Initiative spokeswoman Annelore Reisewitz.

The year 2010 was an eventful and colorful year in Laguna Beach, but no one was prepared for the year to end on a note of disaster. Here are the Coastline Pilot's top 10 news stories of the year. Flood Lagunans ended 2010 awash in mud and debris after a seven-day spate of rain culminated in an intense downpour early Dec. 22 that overflowed Laguna Creek, sending four feet of water surging onto downtown streets. Rain totals in the city were measured at 10 inches from the seven-day event.

Strolling the sands or tide-pooling in Laguna Beach — not to mention fishing, surfing, scuba diving or kayaking — could be subject to future restrictions if the city’s coast is designated as a state marine reserve, as city officials are proposing. A state-appointed blue ribbon task force will meet next week in Long Beach to recommend boundaries and rules for new marine protected areas, which encompass the coastal stretch of Orange County. A proposed set of restrictions under the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act range from a 3-mile no-fishing zone to a citywide ban on fishing and lobster catching.

Billy Fried won’t launch his kayaking business at Treasure Island Beach after considering the conditions imposed on the permit by the California Coastal Commission. At the June 11 hearing, the commission sided with opponents of the project, who claimed the City Council’s terms of approval for the project conflicted with the Treasure Island Local Coastal Program, certified in 1999. “We are going to pick up the permit, but we won’t be pursuing operations at Montage at this time,” Fried said.

Marine reserve decision postponed until Nov. 10 The Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon Committee held a lengthy hearing Oct. 21 to 23 on a proposed marine reserve designation for Laguna Beach but did not make a decision. The committee set another session for 9:30 a.m. Nov. 10 on the matter, to be in the Los Angeles International Airport area. Fall back on Sunday Daylight saving time will end Sunday. All clocks should be turned back one hour by 2 a.m. that day. The ?

The pineapple express is certainly in full effect with relentless rain now going onto the fifth day. It's been at least five years since the last winter like this that I remember and we all know how that year ended up — with the devastating landslide in Bluebird Canyon on June 1, 2005. And who can forget the winter of 1997-98, when it seemed that every other week, downtown Laguna was flooded, and then there was the horrifying slide in Laguna Canyon. Specifically the Castlerock slide, that lead to the death of one and the heroic rescue of a toddler.

To fish or not to fish? Shelter the homeless or leave them out in the cold? Beach curfew or freedom? A sister city in France or just nonsense? To neuter sea lions or, OK, sorry, I’m sure you get the point of where I’m going here. The idea of neutering sea lions was the suggestion of one councilwoman — the same one who was quoted as saying that 80% of Laguna was behind a total fishing ban off Laguna Beach, only to admit later that she was incorrect in stating something of such magnitude.

City Council candidates Bob Whalen and incumbent Verna Rollinger cashed in on supporters over the last week to bolster their campaign finances. Rollinger's fundraiser was held Sunday at the home of Dr. Gary and Betsy Jenkins. The Jenkinses also hosted Whalen's kickoff in March. Betsy Jenkins also serves as president of Laguna Beach Unified's school board. "It was amazing," said Rollinger, who is serving as mayor pro tem in the last year of her first term on the council. "We had more than 100 reservations and then a ton came without reservations, even some I had never met before.

From disaster planning to politicking and the economy, there will be no lack of issues to watch in 2012 in Laguna Beach. It will be a robust political season in this presidential election year, when city voters will decide whether to tax property owners $10 a month over 20 years to raise money for open space acquisitions , and also choose two of the five-member council. Councilwoman Verna Rollinger got an early start on campaigning by announcing her bid for reelection in September.

The City Council on Tuesday honored the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition for its successful campaign to include Laguna Beach in the California network of marine reserves. "I have seen these people in action," said Mayor Toni Iseman, one of the four council members to support the reserve in Laguna. "They are formidable. " The California Fish and Game Commission voted 5 to 0 to designate Laguna's shoreline as a marine reserve, thanks in part to Bluebelt members' constant presence at local and state hearings.

The year 2010 was an eventful and colorful year in Laguna Beach, but no one was prepared for the year to end on a note of disaster. Here are the Coastline Pilot's top 10 news stories of the year. Flood Lagunans ended 2010 awash in mud and debris after a seven-day spate of rain culminated in an intense downpour early Dec. 22 that overflowed Laguna Creek, sending four feet of water surging onto downtown streets. Rain totals in the city were measured at 10 inches from the seven-day event.

The pineapple express is certainly in full effect with relentless rain now going onto the fifth day. It's been at least five years since the last winter like this that I remember and we all know how that year ended up — with the devastating landslide in Bluebird Canyon on June 1, 2005. And who can forget the winter of 1997-98, when it seemed that every other week, downtown Laguna was flooded, and then there was the horrifying slide in Laguna Canyon. Specifically the Castlerock slide, that lead to the death of one and the heroic rescue of a toddler.

Kelly Boyd supporters jammed the Marine Room on Monday to kick off the tavern owner's City Council reelection campaign. The crowd included representatives of business, the art community, nonprofit organizations and elected city officials, past and present, including former Mayors Wayne Peterson, Cheryl Kinsman and Paul Freeman. "Kelly is probably the most popular member of the council, illustrated by the admixture of people here tonight," Freeman said. A number of Realtors were in the crowd, but board President Bob Hartman spoke only for himself when he said, "He supports Realtors.

The tyranny of good intentions, terribly off target, was on the march at the April 6 City Council meeting. The ladies of the majority persisted in their insistence that all fishing off Laguna be banned. Common sense and balance was abandoned in the service of their ?zero tolerance? agenda. I repeatedly queried the council and their numerous out-of-town supporters as to whether they really believed that the handful of locals fishing off of Laguna were responsible for any damage to our waters.

A City Council majority reinforced Tuesday its preference for a marine reserve that stretches along the entire coast of Laguna except for the immediate vicinity of the ocean outfall at Aliso Creek. The council voted 4 to 1, Councilman Kelly Boyd opposed, to reiterate its position and its opposition to modifications recommended by the Blue Ribbon Task Force to allow fishing on the southern 1.3 miles of the city’s shoreline. The council’s decision was to be communicated to the city’s marine protection officer, Laguna’s representative at Fish and Game Commission meetings Wednesday and Thursday in Monterey.

In last week?s editorial on the Marine Life Protection Act and a citywide marine protected area for Laguna (?Devil in the details,? Dec. 11) you said, ?we want to make it clear...? Now, I want to make it clear that your editorial is far from accurate or clear. Has the Coastline staff been asleep? Have they not heard or read the hours and days and years of work and testimony for the MLPA from the Science Advisory Team, a highly respected team of marine scientists? Your editorial said, ?

To fish or not to fish? Shelter the homeless or leave them out in the cold? Beach curfew or freedom? A sister city in France or just nonsense? To neuter sea lions or, OK, sorry, I’m sure you get the point of where I’m going here. The idea of neutering sea lions was the suggestion of one councilwoman — the same one who was quoted as saying that 80% of Laguna was behind a total fishing ban off Laguna Beach, only to admit later that she was incorrect in stating something of such magnitude.