Audubon in action: toll road victory was years in the making

By Garrison Frost,
February 28, 2008

When the California Coastal Commission earlier this month ruled that a proposed toll road extension through Orange County was inconsistent with the federal Coastal Zone Management Act, it was a major victory for Audubon California and other environmental groups. The 8-2 vote struck a possible death blow to a controversial plan that would have put at risk sensitive species of birds and wildlife, jeopardized thousands of acres of irreplaceable natural landscape, and wrecked a popular state park.

The victory was particularly sweet for Audubon California. Although certainly not one of the more visible of the many environmental groups lined up in opposition to the project, Audubon California played an important role from the very beginning, and would continue to do so right up to and during the vote itself.

The proposed extension to the Orange County Foothill-South (241) freeway provided an excellent opportunity for Audubon to show the multi-layered strength of its organization. By the time it was over, a local chapter, a nearby sanctuary, the state organization, and the national organization would strike mighty blows against the project.

And that doesn’t even mention the part played by Audubon California Board Chair Steve Blank who, in his role as a California Coastal Commissioner, conducted a withering line of questioning to the head of the agency backing the toll road before casting a decisive vote against the project.

In his questioning of Transportation Corridor Agencies CEO Tom Margro, Blank undermined the agency’s $100 million park mitigation offer. He also undercut the agency’s claim that the toll road would be a job builder, and called in to question whether it had legitimately considered other options, such as widening Interstate 5.

But it was the $100 million offer that he particularly savaged. “Is there a price list for state parks?” he asked.

You can view Blank’s entire line of questioning here.

Prior to the hearing, Blank had taken great pains to emphasize his neutrality on the issue, and it was clear at the meeting that he had studied the project’s documentation carefully.

“He was being a darn good Coastal Commissioner, giving the level of attention and service the public and the coast deserves,” said Dan Taylor, director of public policy for Audubon California. “His was a masterful line of questioning that had nothing to do with what Audubon California had said in any of its prior comments. It really showed the breadth of his understanding of the issues at stake.”

After the hearing, Blank told the San Diego Union-Tribune that “I think people will look back on this commission as a group of people who stood up for the people of California.”

By the time Blank cast his vote at just before midnight, only about 800 of the 4,500 people who had been at the Del Mar Fairgrounds when the meeting began at 9 a.m. were still there. One of those was Pete DeSimone, the manager of the Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary in Southern Orange County, and someone who has been involved in the toll road issue for more than a decade.

“It felt like Woodstock all over again,” DeSimone said of the proceedings. “When the vote came down, it was inspiring.”

Back in the 1990s, the toll road issue was far removed from the front pages of the nation’s major daily newspapers. But DeSimone was tracking the issue for Audubon, nonetheless, partnering with the likes of the Natural Resources Defense Counsel and other local groups to fight the first phase of the 241 freeway, and upon losing that battle, successfully negotiating a conservation easement to protect important habitat from construction on the southern end of the project.

“Back then the battle was the same. We were talking about the Gnatcatcher and Coastal Sage Scrub,” said DeSimone. “Once the 241 got built, the issue of the southern extension just kind of stewed under the surface and it was important to pay attention to that.”

DeSimone wasn’t alone. Rather, he was part of a local network of Audubon conservation interests that included the local Sea & Sage chapter and the closely-aligned Endangered Habitats League.

Scott Thomas was also at the Coastal Commission meeting on Feb. 6. As Sea & Sage’s director of conservation, he has been tracking the toll issue since 2003. He first weighed in when the Transportation Corridor Agencies announced its first plans for the Foothill-South extension, and issued its first environmental impact report on the project.

“Sea & Sage has been following this for probably 25 years,” Thomas said. “But 2003 was probably the beginning of the fight that we’re seeing now.”

Sea & Sage ultimately joined in a lawsuit that contested the initial EIR under the California Environmental Quality Act. That suit is still pending.

Both Thomas and DeSimone noted that the partnership between Audubon California, the National Audubon Society and Sea & Sage has created an effective uniform opposition to the toll road. This partnership has enabled the opposition to be nimble, yet still carry the full weight of the national organization.

“It has been a seamless Audubon involvement for more than 10 years,” DeSimone explained.

DeSimone notes that it was sometime around 2003 and 2004 that other environmental groups began to take notice of the issue. “It wasn’t any one thing that brought them all into the fight,” he recalls. “It just evolved.”

Groups that came into the fold at that time included Surfrider, which packed the room on Feb. 6 with people anxious to protect the famous Trestles surf spot and nearby San Onofre State Beach. Although the Sierra Club had always been involved to a lesser degree, the group’s involvement grew by leaps and bounds in the last several years. And the State Parks Foundation has been able to keep a tight focus on the horrible precedent that would be set if the freeway runs through park land.

“This coalition that was formed in the last four or so years has really become something formidable,” said DeSimone. “You really saw it on Feb. 6.”

Of those who came to the Del Mar Fairgrounds to speak out against the toll road, it was clear that most were surfers fighting to save Trestles. But many were Auduboners from throughout Southern California, encouraged to come and voice their opinions through email campaigns from Audubon California and Sea & Sage.

Prior to the meeting, staff at Audubon California was working behind the scenes with local and state policymakers. It also sent out an email Action Alert to its constituents, generating nearly 3,000 emails opposing the toll road.

Even with all the groundwork, all the experts and all the behind-the-scenes discussions, the final vote was a mystery right up until the very end. In fact, there were many who did not expect the outcome to be favorable at all.

“We had no idea whether we’d win or lose,” said Taylor. “There was some sense of resignation that big government was going to roll over Mother Nature.”

Thomas said that many people he spoke to were hoping for five votes or, in other words, a tie. “Everything was really quiet when they called the vote, but when they got to six against the toll road, the crowd started to roar,” he recalled. “At eight, it was just elation.”

While the Coastal Commission vote was tremendous vindication for the Audubon staff who have been fighting the toll road for so many years, DeSimone, Thomas and others know that the struggle isn’t over quite yet. The Transportation Corridors Agencies has appealed the commission’s decision to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

But if the toll road proponents think that by leaving the state they can avoid Audubon, they are sorely mistaken. The National Audubon Society has plenty of resources in Washington, D.C. to bring to bear against the project.

“We will be vigilant and oppose this at any level,” said Taylor. “That’s one of the strengths of Audubon – we have influence at every level, be it local, state or national.”