Illegal Or Legal, Fires Of Any Kind Are Not Welcome In Malibu

While other local "news sources" ignore the importance of this hot bed issue ( pun intended ), The Real Malibu 411 was front and center with the distribution of the press release, subsequently uploaded to all of our social media platforms. Additionally, the media outreach of Cece Stein of Rock & Revolution P.R., also a Corral Canyon resident and in association with neighbor and concerned Malibu resident Lori Jacobus who took the time to put this petition together we hope will make the difference.

Help us permanently ban overnight camping in our high risk areas and avoid the devastation Malibuites all to familiar with! We deserve a good night's sleep like the rest of the world and that can't happen if overnight camping is allowed!


PR Log - Global Press Release Distribution

Petition to Ban Overnight Camping in High Risk Fire Areas of Malibu Reaches 1,000 Signatures
Source: Rock & Revolution P.R. Dated: Feb. 26, 2013

Malibu Residents Petitioning The City of Malibu and The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy
Malibu, CA - February 26, 2013 - With strong momentum behind them, Malibu residents are rallying the people of Los Angeles County to join in signing a petition to protect visitors to Malibu canyons and state parks from the danger of campfires in unsupervised terrains, as similar discussions ensue between the Malibu City Council and The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

Malibu local Lori Jacobus started a petition to put an end to the controversial proposal allowing camping above the highly populated canyons.

"I was inspired to start this petition out of concern for those who would be coming to these proposed campsites from out of town,” says Jacobus. “Malibu residents have become reluctant experts on fire and fire evacuation; we know how to get out safely, but those coming into these canyons to camp do not have first hand experience of a fast moving wildfire, nor do they understand that these canyons have their own weather patterns and the dangerous landscape conditions.”

“Allowing overnight camping in these hills could be potentially devastating and even life-threatening for both residents and campers alike,” adds Jacobus. “The terrain and conditions do not lend themselves to the better structured, regulated and monitored camping experiences available in our state and national parks – and in the hills of Malibu, “fire season” has become a year around event as is evidenced by the fire danger signs the have read “high” many times this winter.”

According to FEMA’s wesbite, the leading heat source of intentionally set [man-made] outdoor fires, by more than five times the second leading source, is heat from open flames, such as campfires, or smoking materials (70 percent). An illegal campfire was the cause of the devastating 2007 Corral Canyon blaze, which burned 53 homes to the ground. More than five years on, some residents have yet to rebuild. Fires of any kind, including legal campfires which were the result of 9 wildfires in 2012 alone, already carry an increasing level of risk in understaffed campgrounds and State Parks. As the losses of the 2007 blazes demonstrate, even with well-regulated brush clearance, just one campfire in a hard-to-reach location can quickly take a tragic and unexpected turn.

The petition has already exceeded 1,000 signatures and residents are currently mobilizing teams to begin collecting signatures at shopping centers and other public areas with high foot traffic in Malibu, Agoura, Calabasas, Palisades, Topanga and additional surrounding areas.
“The residents of Malibu are most interested in doing whatever it takes to minimize the risk of more fires,” says Jacobus. “Fires are going to happen naturally, we get that and we accept it – but there’s no reason to knowingly and further risk public safety.”

More information regarding the petition, generated through change.org, can be found at Change.org

So It begins - Malibu Lagoon Battles - 2013

Last week, local Malibu resident Wendi Werner, an opponent of the Malibu Lagoon Restoration, stated in her letter to the Surfside News that "water quality and sediment at the Lagoon has been ignored." 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYcoUdFs1Lw

The truth is, NOTHING has been ignored! 

( see the video above and more on our You Tube detailing the dewatering process on the Malibu Lagoon Restoration Project )

There was extensive water testing done on site and the data providing the results was released regularly.

The results of the water tests can be found on our site as well as the City of Malibu website.

State parks has not done any digging on the eastern bank of the lagoon and therefore is not responsible for fine sediments on the eastern side of the lagoon that are transported in from the ocean or down Malibu Creek from adjacent properties and upstream cities. 

No work has been done in the main lagoon and therefore State Parks is not required to monitor where no work has occurred or where no impacts will be created by the project. 

There is a very robust monitoring program that will absolutely determine if fine sediments are accumulating into the restoration area. Additionally,monitoring sites will be in the main lagoon outside of the construction area to determine what if any changes are occurring in the main lagoon. 

The City does not have to monitor the opposite bank of the creek when they built legacy park, but they do monitor in front of their discharge pipes where they are likely to have an influence.

Wendi Werner says, "When the lagoon was to be enhanced, or restored, it was because of sediment buildup that was causing eutrophication".

That is completely false.

The lagoon was restored because of horrendous circulation and tidal inundation. Poor tidal inundation leads to the inability of the Lagoon to flush out fine sediments and decaying organic matter which is what created that stinky black muck that was removed from the channels. Nutrients (fertilizers) attach to fine sediments and then are released into the water column after being submerged for some time. The eutrophication is caused by the combination of high nutrients mainly from upstream sources. These sources will be ratcheted down to comply with TMDL requirements and State and Federal Law. Additionally, the improved tidal flushing and circulation will create less fine sediments (silts and clays) and more coarse sediments (like sand) which sequester much fewer nutrients.

Wendi Werner claims "the Lagoon will have to be redredeged."  

 The new configuration and improved tidal flushing will minimize or eliminate the accumulation of fine sediments according to the modeling. Rindge dam is currently not blocking fine sediments as the dam is full. The improved circulation and tidal influence and coarser grain size sediments will also enhance the suffering and desperate biological communities.

Wendi Werner states "The Malibu Lagoon Restoration received 2.2 million dollars for clean water, yet this project is not about clean water at all."

Another completely FALSE statement. 

The bond money received came from the same pot that built Legacy Park and other projects and the funds can be used for habitat restoration as well as water quality improvement. By the way, the lagoon project accomplishes both by reducing fine sediments that sequester nutrients and improving dissolved oxygen both measures of water quality.

Additionally, Wendi Werner states : "State Parks received millions from the California Coastal Conservancy to do studies for hydrology for the breach at the lagoon.".

No funds have been received  to study the breach at the lagoon. but there are  funds for  studies about the lagoon’s flora and fauna, water quality and the circulation issues.

Wendi Werner goes on "Since the meeting at the L.A. County Board of Supervisors hearing in January, many other additions to the initiative have been added, such as clean air projects, more restoration for wetlands, education amenities, ball fields, cul -tural heritage. bla, bla, bla. This is not for clean water and is fabricated by the environmental groups". 

    

For the record, environmental groups did not create this proposal, this has been done by the Countyof LA.!!

Wendi pleads "I cannot be the only voice that keeps bringing these points up. I need help."

It seems that Wendi Werner's voice is the only voice that is consistently distorting the truth of which the local papers and news sources continue to distribute without investigating the facts. This is not only irresponsible it is enabling Wendi Werner's repeated attempts to sabotage any efforts by the EPA , Fish and Game, surfers, biologists, marine environmentalists and water enthusiasts to keep our waterways and oceans clean and healthy! Does she actually have any solutions that will improve water quality? Or does she want water quality to continue to be a health hazard to wildlife and humans?