April 18, 2008 by admin

Jenna Kinghorn Says: You Probably Know That Fitzgerald Marine Reserve

Is An Important Place To Me, And Many Of You Have Spent Some Time With Me Exploring Its Magical Reef Which Is Internationally Known In the Marine Science Commuity For Its Amazing Biodiversity.

Right now there’s a state government review underway to formalize the boundaries of the reserve as part of the Marine Life Protection Act.

Supporters of the reserve have been hoping to make the reserve a little bigger and strengthen its protections and make them permanent. Our preferred proposal, which is endorsed by the board of the Friends of Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, the Ocean Conservancy, and other marine conservation organizations, is called “Proposal 4”.

But recreational anglers have organized to support a proposal (Called Proposal 2XA) that may WEAKEN the current reserve, actually cutting it in half and opening the southern part to even more fishing than is allowed under current rules. Recently they have executed a letter/email-writing campaign that makes it look like there is tremendous support for their proposal and VERY LITTLE for ours!

If you could take 5 minutes out of your busy day to
1) copy the text of the email (attached) I sent to the decision-makers into a blank email
2) replace my signature with your own name and city
3) enter a subject line such as “Support for Proposal 4”
4) and send it to [email protected]
it would go a long way towards improving our chances of showing that Proposal 4 has just as much public support as Proposal 2XA. We hope to get Proposal 4 adopted to ensure that FMR will be a robust environment and great place to take your kids for generations to come.

You can learn more about the whole MLPA process (which is full of other acronyms and lots of government doublespeak and REALLY TEDIOUS meetings) at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/index.asp.

Feel free to personalize your letter, but even submitting just this “form letter” in my email attachment (read on to sign and send the letter) will count towards our support.

email Jenna: ([email protected])

To see and sign the letter, read on…

Dear Chair Golding and members of the Blue Ribbon Task Force:

I am writing in support of proposal 4. Like everyone else I care deeply about our oceans and want to ensure that they are protected for my family and future generations. The best way to do that is by giving the special places in our region the complete protection they deserve. My family and I strongly support Proposal 4.

Proposal 4 affords the best protection for the North Central Coast, while minimizing economic impact by allowing small boat fishermen access to those sections of the coast that they traditionally fish.

Proposal 4 gets the highest marks from the scientific community in size, spacing and habitat protection. It protects rocky reefs along the Sonoma coast and one of the most biodiverse regions on the west coast; the Fitzgerald Marine Park. Proposal 4 extends the protection of Fitzgerald Marine Park into deeper waters to take full advantage of this scientifically recognized biodiverse area.

We need a strong network of highly protected areas that ensure that marine animals have refuges where they can reproduce and thrive. By choosing Proposal 4 we will be doing our best to preserve our ocean for future generations.