ADOPT-A-BEACH
SPRING CLEAN UP- April 20

9am- 12pm, 29th and Seawall

(across from the beach)

Thousands of Adopt-A-Beach volunteers remove an average of 500 tons of trash each year from Texas beaches. Through two large scale cleanups, and a number of smaller ones, Texans arrive by the thousands to show their dedication to keeping Texas beaches clean.

Since 1986, more than 439,000 volunteers have removed 8,400 tons (more than 17 million pounds) of trash from Texas beaches and estuaries.

Help us clean up our Galveston shores 4.20.2013!
For more info please visit http://www.glo.texas.gov/adopt-a-beach/index.html

Please help us keep our beaches and waterways free from Mardi Gras debris. Recycle unwanted Mardi Gras beads for reuse next year! Drop of beads March -April (or longer) at any of the following locations.

Southern Spears Surf Shop
6062 Sewall Blvd. Galveston, TX 77551
Open Daily: 10am – 6pm

Tangerine Boutique
2218 Postoffice St.
Galveston, TX 77550
Phone: (409)763-7113
Monday thru Saturday: 10:30am – 5:30pm

MOD Coffee Shop
2126 Post Office St.
Galveston, TX 77550
Phone: (409)765-5659
Open Daily: 7am to 10pm

The City of Galveston is in the process of updating their Erosion Response Plan and is looking for public input. Public review draft of the City’s Erosion Response Plan (ERP), which is a key component of the City’s Coastal Management Plan. Adoption of an ERP is essential if the City decides to seek state Coastal Erosion Planning and Response Act (CEPRA) funding to complete projects including dune and wetlands restoration, beach nourishment, shore protection, and other coastal improvement projects. Click HERE to review the current ERP draft

The Galveston Chapter has some really cool t-shirts for sale for $20. Email: galvestonsurfers@gmail.com if you’re interested in purchasing a shirt.

It would have been nice if on Wednesday the United States 5th Circuit Court of Appeals would have announced that the long running Severance v. Patterson Texas Open Beaches Act Challenge was mootand the State’s Public Beach Easement was completely restored but alas, that would have made too much sense.  Instead the Federal Apellatte Court issued an unpublished two paragraph opinion declared that Carol Severance, a San Diego Divorce Attorney and Real Estate Agent, still has standing in Texas because the, “briefing persuades us that under Texas law, Carol Severance remains exposed to potential liability for alleged violations of the Texas Open Beaches Act.”

So for now, The Texas Supreme Court’s ruling still stands and the public beaches in Galveston remain drastically compromised lying only between the mean high and mean low tide lines with the danger of that ruling being expanding to the entire Texas Court.  The U.S. 5th Circuits opinion also means that the Texas Supreme Court must now decide if it will overrule it’s decision based on the arguments that were heard by The Texas General Land Office at the April 19th, 2011 rehearing of the case.

So we wait for the Texas Supreme Court to do the right thing while Ms. Severance sits back in California with the $2 million profit she raked in thanks to the great enabler, FEMA anxiously awaiting to be crowned “Destroyer of the Texas Open Beaches Act”.

To date the original ruling of the Texas Supreme Court Opinion has spurned numerous lawsuits and resulted in the cancellation of a much needed $40 million beach fill project that would have repaired the beaches in Galveston and put a much needed buffer between the Gulf of Mexico and many homes after Hurricane Ike.  Way to goPacific Legal Foundation!!

On 8/28, volunteers gathered at the Flagship Pier to survey for debris potentially left behind by the Flagship demolition project. Here are some pictures: