Mark Massara
Encyclopedia
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
and environmental communities when, as counsel for Surfrider in 1991, he won a lawsuit against two pulp mill
Pulp mill
A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fibre source into a thick fibre board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical or fully chemical methods...
companies near Eureka, California
Eureka, California
Eureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....
that were dumping 40 million USgals (151,416.5 m³) of toxic effluents per day into the ocean. The penalty was the second largest collected for Clean Water Act
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that...
violations.
Massara founded Surfers Environmental Alliance and the National Association of Surfing Attorneys, and partnered with Kenneth and Gabrielle Adelman to create a California coastline photographic survey. He is on the board of Vote the Coast and Coastal Advocates, and serves on the advisory board of Save the Waves Coalition and Project Kaisei. He writes on coastal and environmental legal issues for surfing magazines, Coastwatcher, and other publications.
Massara also serves as Chief Policy Officer for Dot Eco LLC, a coalition effort among Al Gore, Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, and others to establish an Internet domain service to benefit environmental protection and climate change efforts.
Currently, Massara focuses on climate change related coastal protection and land use issues. With a predicted 4.5 feet (1.4 m) sea level rise along the California coast in the next 80 years, Massara states, "There is no time to waste in implementing aggressive land use retreat and resilient habitat and wetlands protection measures." Massara is urging private property owners along the coast to adopt "managed retreat strategies" and begin moving residential and other structures away from coastal bluffs. He is also arguing that coastal open space and wetlands areas be protected and expanded as "resilient" habitat necessary to protect wildlife in future decades.
Massara started in environmental activism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
at the age of 7. He was living in Santa Barbara when a Union Oil
Unocal Corporation
Union Oil Company of California, dba Unocal is a defunct company that was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headquartered in El Segundo, California, United States.On August 10, 2005, Unocal merged...
offshore rig leaked 80000 to 100000 bbl (12,719 to 15,898.7 m3) of oil, and he and his father threw hay bales on the beach and collected dead and dying birds. As a surfer and activist, Massara states, "Surfers bring to the cause of protecting the coast an intimate knowledge of the California coastline and its many resources, along with a zeal for recreation."
When the California Coastal Commission
California Coastal Commission
The California Coastal Commission is a state agency in the U.S. state of California with quasi-judicial regulatory oversight over land use and public access in the California coastal zone....
held a hearing in 1998 on whether to approve a Hearst Corporation
Hearst Corporation
The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
proposal to build a series of resorts on one of that last untouched stretches of coastline, surfers protested. Massara and other Club activists organized aerial photos, obtained damning documents about significant Native American resources that would be disturbed by the project, and rounded up a crowd of 1,500 to show up for the hearing. Surfers provided signs for protesters and wore wetsuits to testify against the plan.
"Whether I'm working with surfers, farmers or Chumash Indians, I listen to them, go to their meetings and immerse myself in their perspective and genuinely empathize with their viewpoint," states Massara. "It helps to walk a mile in someone's shoes."
The Smithsonian
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
has declared Massara an "ocean hero."
In April 2007, Massara and Sierra Club led a coalition of dozens of environmental organizations and thousands of coastal activists in the defeat of a multi-billion dollar proposal by BHP Billiton to construct a 14-story liquid natural gas terminal that would have been a floating industrial facility several miles off the Malibu-Oxnard area of Southern California. The victory, in which both the California State Lands Commission and the California Coastal Commission denied the project in separate hearings, is considered the Waterloo for LNG terminals along the California coast.
In May 2007, Massara was featured in Vanity Fair's Green Issue: "He is a polluter's worst nightmare: a longhaired surfer with a law degree. Now that's righteous."
In 2007, Massara's efforts resulted in the California Coastal Commission denial of Pebble Beach Company's plan to cut down over 18,000 trees on the Monterey Peninsula
Monterey Peninsula
The Monterey Peninsula is located on the central California coast and comprises the cities of Monterey, Carmel, and Pacific Grove, and unincorporated areas of Monterey County including the resort and community of Pebble Beach.-Monterey:...
.
In May 2008, Massara was featured in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
' video entitled Planet Us: The Coastal Warrior.
In 2008, Massara, Sierra Club, California State Parks Foundation, dozens of organizations, and tens of thousands of activists won one of the biggest environmental victories in Southern California history by defeating the Orange County Transportation Corridor Agency's proposal to construct a billion dollar 17 miles (27.4 km) toll road highway. The project would have cut through San Onofre State Park and endangered species habitat along San Mateo Creek, through sacred Native American sites and adjacent to one of America's most famous surfing environments at Trestles Beach. Prior to the California Coastal Commission denying the project, Massara stated, "The TCA's rich man's highway to nowhere is the wrong road at the wrong time at the wrong place."
In 2009, Massara was featured in an article entitled "Ocean Hero" in the University of San Francisco School of Law's USF Lawyer magazine.
In 2008 and 2009, Massara participated in SEA Paddle NYC, a 28 miles (45.1 km) paddle around New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
that raises money for charities.
In 2010, Massara was interviewed on Sea Change Radio.
As of January 1, 2010, Massara is General Counsel and Vice President of Social Responsibility for O'Neill Wetsuits, LLC in Santa Cruz, CA.