Escalera Nautica Surfermag.com

Havoc and Hope Along the Escalera Nautica Route

Havoc and Hope in Baja

One World Ed's Note:

Below are several items from Serge Dedina at Wildcoast, an ocean organization that has been instrumental in the fight to keep Baja wild. The first is a series of photos of the Escalera Nautica Project currently lined up to ruin some of Baja's best, most rustic point breaks and fishing grounds. The second is a set of photos from a surf contest Wildcoast held at Punta Abreojos.

Which 100,000 Baja inhabitants will this project benefict exactly?

As you can see from the pics, projects at Canoas and Rosalita are well underway. Also planned are projects at Abreojos, Colonet, Scorpion Bay and several other spots. If you can imagine what the Dana Point Harbor did to Killer Dana, then perhaps you can get an idea of what the ultimate vision may be.

Some of you might argue, hell, it's their country, let them do what they want. How can we have a problem with them developing their land when we have bulldozed nearly everything in sight in Southern California? I personally would argue that it's precisely because we have bulldozed everything in Southern California that we can say, "look, see how screwed up this place is? Is this what you want too?" But that's just me.

It wasn't so long ago that you could camp on the beach at Trestles, surf all day with one or two friends, and dine over an open fire on hand-caught lobster and abalone. There are places in Baja where this is still possible...for now.

The second set of photos comes from a grass-roots surf contest held at Punta Abreojos. Abreojos is on the front line of many of Baja's current issues: Overfishing, sea turtle harvests, drug running and the Escalera Nautica Project. Speaking of drug running, imagine what a series of barely guarded, easily accessible, and utterly remote marinas will do for the Baja drug trade.

Recognizing the value of their home, the people of Abreojos are fighting back. With your help, maybe this is one town that can be saved.

--Chris Dixon

Dear Baja Team:

Here are some recent photos of Escalera Nautica stuff -- Please note the sign leading into Pta. Canoas -- formerly the least known Baja "mysto" spot. That ends speculation on whether project was planned there.

-Serge

Dear Baja Team:

Here are photos from our Pta. Abreojos surf contest in late July-- carried out with support from SIMA--celebrating protecting the Baja coast--and carried out at exactly in the same location where we stopped the Mitsubishi corporation from destroying the coast with a one mile long concrete pier and industrial facilities.

This is also a proposed location for Escalera Nautica. At the contest the locals ripped--grommets ripped, and grandmas watched from the dunes.

The stoke level was super high--more importantly Punta Abreojos as a community is behind coastal conservation. This sentiment was included in an article in the Economist that the community is against the marina project!!! That trip generated two AP stories -- one on Nautica and one on turtles.

FYI--independent filmmaker Chris Figler is finishing shooting a feature length documentary on the Nautica project/Baja/surfing--that will include the contest and all of our work to stop the project. After shooting the pro event in San Miguel (next week?), Chris will return to LA and will also crank out an 8-10 minute video on the project and our work to stop it.

Photos courtesy of Kama Dean at Pro Peninsula who also helped out greatly at the event.

Cheers,

===================================

Serge Dedina, Ph.D.

Director

WiLDCOAST

Baja California CoastKeeper Program Director

WiLDCOAST is an international conservation team preserving coastal

wildlands and endangered marine species

Escalera Nautica Press Release from February, 2002

PERFECT BAJA POINT WAVES BEING DESTROYED
NAUTICAL ROUTE MARINA PROJECTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN BAJA CALIFORNIA
Construction Will Destroy Point Breaks in the Californias

Santa Rosalillita, Baja California, Februrary 11, 2002 -The peaceful and isolated San Andres Valley, along the Pacific Coast of Baja California, Mexico is being dynamite-blasted into a quarry, for a two million dollar marina project under construction a five miles to the south in Santa Rosalillita, a fishing village known for excellent surfing and windsurfing.

The project will destroy significant costal and marine habitats, as well as, a world-class surfing break. And, the benefits of a marina of the proposed size have yet to be demonstrated.

According to Dr. Serge Dedina, an expert on coastal development and the Director of WiLDCOAST, an international conservation team, "the project is also technically unsound and has little chance of success."

"There is a demonstrated lack of planning here," said Dedina. "For example, the heavy movement of sand in the area, will require the marina to be dredged constantly. Similar dredging operations at southern California marinas cost millions of dollars annually. In Santa Rosalillita, is not clear who will pay for this down the road. The project is also located in a heavy surf zone, subject to constant fog. More importantly, no one has shown that there is a market for a large marina. Irreversible damage is being done to a pristine beachfront and a significant surfing break without full consideration of the consequences."

The marina project at Santa Rosalillita is the beginning of Mexico's 1.6 billion dollar Nautical Route Program that proposes the construction of 22 marinas and resort developments throughout the region. Additional marinas are proposed for Punta Canoas, Punta Abreojos and Scorpion Bay.

Officials from Mexico1s National Tourism Fund (FONATUR) suggest that the Santa Rosalillita marina will be part of a terrestrial bridge that will connect the Pacific to the Sea of Cortez fishing village, Bahia de los Angeles.

"Those of us who work in the ocean want to make a living in a way that does not hurt the environment. This Nautical Route project represents the old way of doing things," said Adan Hernandez a fishermen turned conservationist who works in Baja California.

About WiLDCOAST:
WiLDCOAST is an international conservation team working to preserve the coastal wildlands and endangered marine species of the California's. Founded in 1999 by Dr. Wallace J. Nichols and Dr. Serge Dedina, WiLDCOAST is currently working to protect 1.2 million acres of coastal wildlands and marine sites in the California's.

For more info go to: www.wildcoast.net

Photos courtesy www.wildcoast.net

Can you believe this nightmare? Talk about this environmental disaster now. Click here.

Wildcoast Mailing Address:

757 Emory St. PMB 161

Imperial Beach, CA 91932, USA

Tel: 619.423.8530

Fax: 619.423.8488

sdedina@wildcoast.net

www.wildcoast.net

Office Address:

925 Seacoast Dr.