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Unlikely culprit may have led to collapse of iconic California wharf
UK Daily Mail ^ | 12/29/2024 | MELISSA KOENIG and SONYA GUGLIARA

Posted on 12/29/2024 1:27:57 PM PST by DFG

Seagulls may be to blame for the shocking collapse of California's well known Santa Cruz Wharf pier.

City officials revealed that environmental orders meant to protect the seaside birds have hindered essential repairs to the 110-year-old structure, according to Mercury News.

When a portion of the pier deteriorated and plummeted into the ocean during a major storm on Monday, the structure was still damaged from storms from two years ago. But those repairs were put off because of seagull protections.

Mercury News reported that critical aspects of repair work, including fixing the pillars holding up the wharf, were delayed by environmental activism efforts.

Due to rules implemented by the Coastal Commission, renovations and repairs can only be done between September and March to avoid seagull nesting season.

But this has proven to be problematic, officials have said.

Tony Elliott, director of Parks and Recreation, told the outlet: 'Our work window is a very narrow six months over the winter time when we tend to have storms and big waves.

'The wharf is a 110-year-old structure, and it requires a lot of work. … It takes more than six months out of the year to maintain it effectively.'

In February, the Commission lightened up on some of their restrictions and allowed for some supportive timber 'piles' to be worked on during nesting season, but Elliott said it 'didn’t change the dynamics.'

These hardly-loosened limitations allowed for workers to repair the site for just four hours a day before 10 am. They also had to be at least 300 feet from any seagull nests.

Former wharf manager Jon Bombaci asserted that these policies need to be changed to avoid future disasters.

He told Mercury News: 'There needs to be a reassessment of the policies that direct the Coastal Commission’s permitting process.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: US: California
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1 posted on 12/29/2024 1:27:57 PM PST by DFG
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To: DFG

There’s nothing unlikely about rules implemented by the Coastal Commission, or the harm they routinely cause.


2 posted on 12/29/2024 1:30:56 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: DFG

Blame the birds, not the idiots protecting birds, the birds that are basically rats.


3 posted on 12/29/2024 1:31:31 PM PST by Dennis M.
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To: DFG

No, seagulls near the Santa Cruz Pier in California are not endangered. However, federal and state laws protect the nesting areas of seabirds like the western gull and pigeon guillemot.

The Coastal Commission has modified its requirements for wharf repairs to allow some work during nesting season. These modifications include:

Only working after 10 AM
Limiting work to a maximum of four hours per day
Keeping workers at least 300 feet away from nests

The Coastal Commission recognizes that the wharf environment is unique and warrants special consideration. The city has expressed concerns that the protections for nesting seabirds conflict with the need for wharf repairs.

Seagull populations are declining in the wild due to a number of pressures, including avian flu and depleted fish stocks. Gulls are driven to urban areas to survive, where they can come into conflict with humans over food.


4 posted on 12/29/2024 1:35:05 PM PST by Jeff Chandler (THE ISSUE IS NEVER THE ISSUE. THE REVOLUTION IS THE ISSUE.)
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To: Dennis M.

Flying Rats!
.
Nasty and Obnoxious!


5 posted on 12/29/2024 1:38:31 PM PST by Big Red Badger (ALL Things Will be Revealed !)
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To: DFG

Seagulls are literally everywhere - yet the twisted envirocommies still can use them to clampdown and victimize society.

Everyone knows they don’t GAS about birds or trees. It’s politics and graft. They repeat this model everywhere. Here in Florida it’s panthers and gopher tortoises.

Bad things need to start happening to America’s low commie trash, for real. Like societies of yore where they’d brutalize them to the point where they’d be afraid to go outside or open their mouths.

It’s the only way. They don’t just go away on their own... the host/victim needs to force them.


6 posted on 12/29/2024 1:42:06 PM PST by AAABEST (That time Washington DC became a corrupted, existential threat to us all...)
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To: DFG

Could have been years of bird shxt destroying the wood but the idiotic liberal protection of birds makes more sense.


7 posted on 12/29/2024 1:45:46 PM PST by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: DFG

To err is human. To FUBAR requires a commission.


8 posted on 12/29/2024 1:46:31 PM PST by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.)
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To: DFG

Seagull protection!? Seagulls are the ultimate survivors and there’s no shortage of the little bastards. Rats have nothing on seagulls for tenacity and survival.

All the lawyers and watermelon marxists belong at the bottom of the ocean.


9 posted on 12/29/2024 1:49:43 PM PST by wildcard_redneck
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To: DFG

I’ve been on that pier a few times.
I’ve never understood why they made
those kinds of piers. Other than for
lazy fishermen and overpriced restaurants.
In that part of California I know
far better places to fish at, from the beach.
I always caught fish.
(I grew up in California).


10 posted on 12/29/2024 1:50:28 PM PST by rellic (no such thing as a moderate Moslem or Democrat )
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To: rellic

Only three million Seagulls left, not counting Stephen.


11 posted on 12/29/2024 1:54:20 PM PST by Colt1851Navy (What was wrong with Nixon?)
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To: DFG

12 posted on 12/29/2024 1:55:29 PM PST by Ezekiel (🆘️ "Come fly with US". 🔴 Ingenuity -- because the Son of David begins with MARS ♂️, aka every man)
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To: DFG

Seagulls did not cause the collapse MOONBATS caused the collapse.


13 posted on 12/29/2024 1:55:30 PM PST by mowowie
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To: DFG
a long, elevated walking path was built on a river delta near me (Wash state).

It cost bajillions and took a couple years (rather than a few months) because the builders could not use power tools that would have disturbed the birds (all very common birds, none "endangered")

14 posted on 12/29/2024 2:16:12 PM PST by llevrok (Keep buggering on!)
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To: DFG
Mercury News reported that critical aspects of repair work, including fixing the pillars holding up the wharf, were delayed by environmental activism efforts.

In a left-wing activist sh**-hole like California, this is absolutely believable

15 posted on 12/29/2024 2:17:22 PM PST by PGR88
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To: DFG

Like sea lions, there is no shortage of sea gulls.

Pain in the ass envirowhackos!


16 posted on 12/29/2024 2:21:14 PM PST by Blue Collar Christian (I'm a nationalist. I'm white. How does that make me racist?)
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To: DFG

I have residential rental properties. A large tree in the courtyard, surrounded by other trees, was so dead that limbs were falling off of it. I notified the tenants that it was going to be taken down and later received an email from my lesbian tenant saying, “It’s a shame it has come to this. There are squirrels living in that tree. I thought you should know.” Morons!


17 posted on 12/29/2024 2:27:40 PM PST by KevinB (Word for the day: "kakistocracy" - a society governed by its least suitable or competent citizens)
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To: rellic

Fishing from a man made structure is legal without a license from Fish and Game.


18 posted on 12/29/2024 2:29:02 PM PST by sasquatch (Do NOT forget Ashli Babbit! c/o piytar)
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To: KevinB
While logging, I've had to keep equipment away from a couple old growth redwoods because they might be habitat for a bat that wasn't there but it might be.
19 posted on 12/29/2024 2:33:26 PM PST by sasquatch (Do NOT forget Ashli Babbit! c/o piytar)
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To: DFG

climate change... california should know better... they started the standards on this bs...


20 posted on 12/29/2024 2:36:49 PM PST by heavy metal (smiling improves your face value and makes people wonder what the hell you're up to... 😁)
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