Malibu citizens, this imminent Malibu Lagoon debacle makes me feel exactly like that scene in the classic ‘70s movie “Network” where Peter Finch yells out the window, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!”
Can’t anyone, or everyone, see the utter pulling of the wool here? The deception and surreptitious activities by the developers, the use of specious scientific “data” and the plain fact that Baykeeper and other “agents” have made every effort to fly this grim project right under the noses and radar of our community-without telling a soul! It’s outrageous, wildly errant and downright evil, to say the least. If the Malibu Lagoon “restoration” project is implemented, we can look forward to not only a maligned wetlands ecosystem (as city engineers and other outsourced mercenaries redesign Nature itself), but also, a summer of dump truck convoy traffic jams, massive (and unnecessary) mud displacement and other highly avoidable logistical nightmares yet to be revealed. These “scientists” with no truly valid credentials are trying to fix an ecosystem that is not, in any discernable way, broken.
Our community needs to rise up immediately and firmly in defense of this fragile, lovely, cherished and teeming with life zone that will simply not recover from the proposed and ill-conceived butchery at hand. Countless qualified scientists from Roy Van de Hoek to Hartmut Walters (Emeritus professor, UCLA) unanimously agree that this fertile, fluid and complex wetland in our midst is functioning just fine, in fact, marvelously well, especially considering that it is heavily visited by surfers, visitors, tourists and nature lovers seven days a week. Any change, such as gentle widening of channels or plant rehabilitation, should be conducted by local volunteers and by hand-which can easily, eagerly and gradually be accomplished. To go in with bulldozers and heavy earth moving equipment will be an eco-crime, a gross negligence of justice and an assault on our community and on Nature, herself.
As fellow surfer Matt Rapf aptly says, “Bulldozing the Lagoon is like performing brain surgery for a headache…”
The plan being foisted upon us is wrong and promises to wreak havoc on our small town and its celebrated wetlands by the sea, not only for the duration of this summer, but for many years to come. If undertaken, the plan to carve out and excavate the Lagoon, turning it summarily into a lake, will be regretted by all, deeply and dearly.
We must, as a community, stop this imminent disaster and act with urgency to save the Lagoon from certain destruction.
Won’t you help? It’s not too late yet. Please visit www.savemalibulagoon.com and check for local community events (Duke’s March 18) planned by concerned citizens, surfers and nature lovers, to avoid the needless reconfiguration of our unique and thriving Lagoon-the centerpiece and historic icon of our town.
Alden Marin