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Come to the Coastal Commission meeting, December 14, 2006 and speak up for the Dunes!
Letter to Marin County Planning Commission

Come to the Coastal Commission meeting, December 14, 2006 and speak up for the Dunes!

On Thursday Dec 14, the Coastal Commission is meeting in San Francisco--and the future of Tomales Dunes is at stake. The Commissioners will decide what to do about the un-permitted development at Lawson's Landing, from camping on wetlands to substandard sewage disposal, which threatens the environment and public health. The Coastal Commissioners need to hear from you at this meeting! Please come and let the Commission know that you want the Dunes, wetlands, and other sensitive habitats protected and the Coastal Act enforced. You don't have to speak at a microphone. Your mere presence will send a message to the Commissioners.

DATE: Thursday December 14, 2006

TIME: The meeting begins at 9 AM. Lawson's Landing is Item 8 on the agenda, and is likely to be after lunch. The timing of Coastal Commission meetings is difficult to predict, so it's best to arrive by 1 and plan to stay for the afternoon. Check back here for last-minute agenda changes.

LOCATION: Hyatt Regency Embarcadero Hotel, 5 Embarcadero Plaza, San Francisco, CA (415) 788-1234. You can take a ferry from Larkspur Landing right to the hotel. For ferry schedules go to http://goldengateferry.org/schedules/Larkspur.php

OTHER REASONS TO GO: Before or after the meeting, have lunch or dinner or do your holiday shopping at the San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace, which is just across the street from the meeting. For more information on the diversions available there go to http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com

For more information on Tomales Dunes, go to http://www.eacmarin.org/campaigns/tomales_dunes.php

For the Commission's agenda, go to http://www.coastal.ca.gov/mtgcurr.html

Print the following letter and fax it to the California Coastal Commission.

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PLEASE ACT TO PROTECT TOMALES DUNES BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!

To: Meg Caldwell, Chair
California Coastal Commission

Dear Commissioner Caldwell,

Tomales Dunes, a complex of mature mobile dunes, central dune scrub, dune prairie, and dune wetlands, is the largest unprotected dune system in central California. It is surrounded by and connected to a rich coastal environment that includes coastal prairie, coastal scrub, salt marsh, tidal flats, bay and ocean. This extraordinary site supports at least 14 listed species and has the richest collection of seasonal dune wetlands in central California. It is also one of the few dune systems in the state that still has a vital population of native dune grasses and some true mobile dunes—completely unvegetated and constantly shifting.

Tomales Dunes is also the site of the largest RV campground on the California coast. Camping, ranching, and until recently, quarrying, have taken a toll on the dunes. Degraded wetlands and the invasion of the dunes by European beachgrass, an aggressive alien, are just two of the threats facing the dunes. As the commission considers the Lawson's Landing Coastal Development Permit, we urge you and your fellow commissioners to safeguard this valuable habitat from over-exploitation and ecological degradation.

As naturalist Jules Evens has said, Tomales Dunes is like no other place on earth. Please protect it!

Sincerely,
(Your signature)

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