​Ms. Hutzel previously served as the Conservancy’s Deputy Executive Officer and has been with the agency for over twenty years, during which she has been instrumental in many key projects including the restoration of thousands of acres of former salt ponds in the San Francisco Bay, the creation of the Conservancy’s flagship Explore the Coast and Explore the Coast Overnight grant programs to expand coastal access, and establishing the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority. She also led the development and implementation of many of the Conservancy’s equity-focused initiatives: Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Guidelines, the ADA Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan, the Beach Wheelchair Grant Program, and the updated Coastal Access Project Standards.

​“The State Coastal Conservancy has had a remarkable impact on the California coast in the last 4 decades.” said Ms. Hutzel, “I am honored to take on this role at a time when our work is so essential. Together with the incredible Conservancy staff, I will work to accelerate projects that work with nature to adapt to climate change impacts and increase equitable access to the coast for all Californians.”
“The Coastal Conservancy plays a vital role in achieving the State’s goals for biodiversity, climate resilience, and equitable access to California’s natural wonders. Amy has proven herself as an exceptional leader at the Coastal Conservancy already and I could not be more excited for her to take the reins at this key agency.” said California’s Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot
Each year, the State Coastal Conservancy issues tens of millions of dollars in grants to non-profit organizations, public agencies, and tribes for projects that restore and protect the California coast, increase public access to it, and increase communities’ resilience to climate change. In addition to its annual appropriations from Natural Resource Bonds, on September 23, 2021, Governor Newsom signed a budget bill that includes a total of $500 million for coastal resilience to be appropriated to the Conservancy in Fiscal Years 2022-23 and 2023-24. The Executive Officer and staff of the Conservancy also manage the work of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority, which allocates approximately $25 million each year for restoration projects on the San Francisco Bay shoreline.
“We’re thrilled for Amy to serve as the Executive Officer at the Conservancy,” said Doug Bosco, Chair of the State Coastal Conservancy’s Board, “The Board and I know Amy as a dedicated and collaborative leader with an exceptional track record of delivering complex projects. She will bring her energy and enthusiasm to this role, and a clear vision for what this agency can achieve.”
Ms. Hutzel has been with the State Coastal Conservancy for over 20 years, serving as Deputy Executive Officer, Bay Area Program Manager, and Project Manager. Prior to joining the Conservancy, she worked at Save The Bay and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

​As Executive Officer, she will work closely with the Boards of the Conservancy and the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority, lead the Conservancy’s 70 members of staff, and support hundreds of climate adaptation, public access, and habitat protection and restoration projects throughout the California coast, in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in coastal watersheds. Amy lives with her husband and two children in San Francisco.

The next Coastal Conservancy Public Meeting is on February 03, 2022. Due to the ongoing State of Emergency and pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act and Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-1-22, this Conservancy meeting will be conducted by internet and teleconference, with no public physical location. Members of the public may join by internet with Zoom or dial into the teleconference.
One of the items on the agenda is consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $5,000,000 to the City of Anaheim to prepare preliminary plans, designs, permit applications, and environmental documentation for the OC River Walk, a project to improve and enhance a portion of the Santa Ana River in the County of Orange, including reconfiguring and vegetating the river bank and creating new trail connections.

A Southern California beach that had been closed since an undersea pipeline leaked crude into ocean waters last week is set to reopen Monday, officials announced Sunday night.
City and state beaches in Huntington Beach will reopen after water quality tests revealed no detectable levels of oil associated toxins in the ocean water, the city of Huntington Beach and California State Parks said in a news release. They are still urging visitors to avoid areas that smell of oil and not to touch any oiled materials that wash ashore.
That news will likely please surfers and beach-goers like Richard Beach, who returned to the waves in Huntington Beach with his bodyboard — until lifeguards jet skis chased him out on Sunday. He trekked back across the beach, passing workers in hazmat suits tasked with clearing the sand of sticky, black blobs that washed ashore after the spill.

“The water’s perfect,” said Beach, 69. “Clear all the way to the bottom.”
Huntington Beach and nearby coastal communities have been reeling from last week’s spill that officials said sent at least about 25,000 gallons (95,000 liters) and no more than 132,000 gallons (500,000 liters) of oil into the ocean. It was caused by a leak about 5 miles (8 kilometers) off the coast in a pipeline owned by Houston-based Amplify Energy that shuttles crude from offshore oil platforms to the coast.
The spill was confirmed on Oct. 2, a day after residents reported a petroleum smell in the area. The cause is under investigation and officials said they believe the pipeline was likely damaged by a ship’s anchor several months to a year before it ruptured. It remains unknown when the slender, 13-inch (33-centimeter) crack in the pipeline began leaking oil.
On Sunday, there was no smell of oil and the sand looked largely clear by the Huntington Beach pier, where workers combed the sand for tar. But local officials worry about the environmental impact of the spill on wetlands, wildlife and the economy. With the ocean off limits in the community dubbed Surf City USA, relatively few people were at the beach and shops that cater to them have been hurting.
Officials in the city of 200,000 people have been testing the water to ensure it’s safe for people to get back in and said they’ll continue the testing for at least two more weeks.
Since the spill, residents have been allowed to walk on the sand in Huntington Beach but not on the shoreline or enter the water, and parking was blocked off for nearby state beaches. Popular surfing and swimming spots in Newport Beach and Laguna Beach have also been closed.

In Huntington Beach, shops selling everything from bikinis and stars-and-stripes boogie boards to sand toys and fishing gear have been taking a hit. Marian Johnson, who owns “Let’s Go Fishing” on the pier, said sales have been halved since the spill.
Mike Ali, who owns the nearby shop Zack’s, said since the water closure he had to shut three of his four locations and slash his workers’ hours. People are coming in for bike rentals and food to his one store that remains open, but without surf lessons, event catering and beach bonfires, business has tanked 90%, he said.
“It could be a year to two years to get the tourism to come back,” Ali said, adding that a 1990 oil spill wound up diverting would-be visitors to beaches south and north of the city.
Rich Toro, 70, still took his regular 25-mile (40 kilometers) bike ride down to Huntington Beach on Sunday. But he said he wouldn’t race to get back into the water in light of the spill and worries about the impact on wildlife. Since the incident, officials have reported 38 dead birds and nine dead fish, while 27 oiled birds have been recovered and are being treated.
On Sunday morning, only a handful of people played beach volleyball in Huntington Beach while a few others did exercises or laid on the sand.
But the water closures didn’t deter everyone. While fishing is barred along the shore of virtually all of Orange County, Michael Archouletta, 29, said he came down from East Los Angeles and saw no signs on the pier preventing him from dropping a line. A school of fish swam beneath the pier nearby.
“If this was so dangerous, the fish would be dead,” Archouletta said.

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Dana Point homes surround the Pacific Ocean like an amphitheater. It’s no wonder much about the town’s character and its economy focuses on the ocean and the marine life that migrates past its doorstep for months on end each year.
A year ago it was trademarked the Dolphin & Whale Watching Capital of the World and now it has been designated the first Whale Heritage Site in North America by the United Kingdom-based World Cetacean Alliance.
The designation, in which the group partnered with U.S.-based World Animal Protection nonprofit, recognizes the seaside town as a spot where cetaceans – the scientific name for whale, dolphins and porpoise – are embraced in the local culture, economics, politics and social fabric of the community and where people and cetaceans coexist respectfully.
“This designation distinguishes Dana Point as a beacon for tourists to select this as a sustainable travel destination,” said Ben Williamson, programs director for World Animal Protection.
“I think this adds credibility,” he said. “It includes serious community involvement, economic importance and a look at the way whales impact the area’s heritage.”
The designation was created in 2015.  Two other sites, Hervey Bay in Australia and The Bluff in South Africa, both won certification in October 2019.  Tenerife, Spain, will become the first Whale Heritage Site in Europe.
“When they explained the criteria, I said we’re the perfect location,” said Gisele Anderson, who with her husband, Dave Anderson, operates Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Safari out of the harbor. “We have history, education, saving of animals. We’re really excited because now Dana Point has set the bar.”
And Dana Point’s Festival of Whales is the world’s first and longest-running whale festival, it is scheduled this year for March 6/7, 2021
Hundreds of thousands of people every year make their way to the annual two-weekend-long event started by the “father of whale-watching,” Don Hansen, who with Philip Grignon, a high school teacher, opened the first whale and dolphin watching charter in a small trailer when the city’s harbor opened in 1971. It was a way to teach students about the migrating gray whales. Hansen is Kalez’s father.
Since its early days, the festival has included whale lectures and information on the town’s history with whales – both of which continue to be part of the event that celebrates its 50th anniversary in March.

Anderson had worked with Donna Kalez, who operates Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching, to get the city its new trademark and then when approached by the World Cetacean Alliance after that success they partnered to earn it the Whale Heritage Site designation that was officially announced Wednesday, Jan. 27. They had been notified Jan. 7.
“I’m so proud of myself and Gisele for getting this done,” Kalez said. “It finally brings us the recognition we’ve been trying to get for so long.”
Despite Dana Point’s breathtaking coastline, the selection is not based on geography or its visual splendor, organizers said.
“You could be in the best place in the world, but if you’re not acting responsibly or sustainably, you wouldn’t fit the criteria,” said Ben Williamson, programs director for World Animal Protection.
Still, the Headlands, a towering cliff outcropping overlooking the Pacific Ocean, has been identified by experts as a navigational point for gray whales charting their course from the Bering Sea in Alaska to the warm lagoons of Baja Mexico, where they mate and give birth. A platform at the Dana Point Nature Interpretive Center allows people on land to get glimpses of the passing behemoths and pods of hundreds and thousands of leaping dolphins.

​Bryon Ward, president of Burnham-Ward Properties, which is building the $440 million renovation for the 66-year lease with Newport Beach-based Dana Point Harbor Partners, which is presently underway with the renovation project that includes reconstruction of the commercial core and the east and west marinas, two new hotels and fully rebuilt docks, said marine education is a key pillar in the harbor’s history and future. The company is consulting with marine biologists and artists to create additional educational exhibits and whale-related public art installations, he said.
“With this designation, we know that even more visitors will depart on their whale watching adventures from Dana Point Harbor,” Ward said. “As we further revitalize the harbor,  we will instill the importance of education, conservation and viewing whales in their natural habitat.”

​The behemoth mammals are so much a part of Dana Point’s everyday life that Anderson and Kalez have created charts for their boat captains to document when special animals make another appearance.
There is Patches, a bottlenose dolphin colored in pink, white and black blotches that has been dubbed the “West Coast’s most famed dolphin.”  The animal is so popular that his sightings typically spark celebration and curiosity.
“I was out by myself three months ago with a group of bottlenose dolphins,” Anderson said. “I saw Patches and it feels like an old friend. It’s joyful because you know the animal is still doing well. It’s a sign of hope and a reminder that our environment is not as bad as we’ve been told.”
But, Patches is not the only famous animal. There’s also Casper, an albino dolphin. There are humpbacks known as Twitch, Flicka and Chalkboard.  Notcho, Delta, Curley, Hook and Kink are among the recognized blue whales– the largest animals that have ever existed and there is Scarback, a gray whale. Each animal is significant and has a story and connection to the waters around Dana Point.
Both charter companies provide naturalists aboard to educate the passengers on animal conservation. They also do their best to help with education and collaborate with the nearby Ocean Institute, also located in the Dana Point Harbor. Both are certified by the cetacean alliance as a responsible whale watch charter meaning they operate at the highest standards for the animals and their passengers.

​For Barbara Johannes, president of the Dana Point Historical Society, the Whale Heritage Site distinction brings more responsibility. Dana Point is named for Richard Henry Dana, Jr.,  who detailed his experiences and those of other sailors in 1834 in his book, “Two Years Before the Mast.”
“It is our inherent responsibility to promote a safe cetacean habitat along our coast for the benefit of present and future generations,” she said. “I think Richard Henry Dana Jr. would be pleased.”

Shark attacks decreased for the third consecutive year, falling to 57 unprovoked bites worldwide in 2020, compared with 64 bites in 2019 and 66 in 2018, according to the annual summary issued by the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File. The most recent five-year global average sank to 80 incidents annually.
But it was the deadliest year since 2013, with 10 unprovoked bites resulting in fatalities, a stark departure from the average of four per year. Six of the fatal bites occurred in Australia, three in the U.S. and one in the waters of St. Martin in the Caribbean.
Consistent with long-term trends, the United States led the world in the number of bites, with 33 incidents, a 19.5% drop from 41 last year. Australia followed with 18, a slight uptick from the country’s most recent five-year average of 16 bites per year.
Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s shark research program, said the high number of deaths in 2020 is likely an anomaly.
“It’s a dramatic spike, but it’s not yet cause for alarm,” he said. “We expect some year-to-year variability in bite numbers and fatalities. One year does not make a trend. 2020′s total bite count is extremely low, and long-term data show the number of fatal bites is decreasing over time.”
Experts also confirmed single, non-fatal bites in the Republic of Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Thailand.
ISAF investigates all human-shark interactions but focuses its report on unprovoked attacks, which are initiated by a shark in its natural habitat with no human provocation. These exclude bites to boats, scavenging and bites in public aquariums.

​The past three years have marked an abrupt drop in global shark attacks from previous totals in the high 80s. 2017′s 88 unprovoked bites, for example, were average at the time. Still, 2020′s total of 57 bites worldwide represents a larger-than-expected decrease from 2019 and 2018, Naylor said.
It remains unclear whether COVID-19 lockdowns and a slow year for tourism might have contributed to an unusually low number of bites – or if the dip reflects the challenges of getting data during a pandemic.
While a certain number of cases remain unconfirmed and unclassified each year, this situation was exacerbated in 2020, said Tyler Bowling, ISAF manager. With law enforcement, coroners and healthcare workers focused on responding to COVID-19, few had time to help confirm reported shark bites or provide extra information about incidents.
As a result, Bowling is still working to confirm 16 reported bites and classify an additional six confirmed bites as unprovoked or provoked. In contrast, nine incidents were unconfirmed in 2019 and nine were confirmed as shark bites but could not be classified. All open cases remain under investigation, Bowling said.
Surfers and other board sport athletes, largely undeterred by the pandemic, experienced 61% of bites worldwide in 2020, compared with 53% in 2019 and 2018.

With 1,350 miles of coastline and a large surfing community, Florida has long been a global hotspot for shark bites, a trend that continued in 2020. The state’s 16 unprovoked bites accounted for about 48% of the U.S. total and 28% of incidents worldwide, though the total was significantly lower than Florida’s five-year annual average of 30.
Eight of the bites happened in Volusia County, followed by three in Brevard and single attacks in Duval, Martin, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and St. Johns counties.
Other states with unprovoked bites include Hawaii, 5, California, 4, and North Carolina, 3, with single incidents in Alabama, Delaware, Maine, Oregon and South Carolina. Three of the bites proved fatal, one each in California, Hawaii and Maine, a first for the state.

​Surfer magazine, which helped legitimize wave-riding as a global sport through its lush photography and California-cool stories, printed its final edition and suspended operations this month, to the dismay of the legions of baby boomers who once lingered at newsstands waiting for the latest issue.
Founded in 1960 and beloved by pre-internet-age surfers from Mission Beach to Biarritz, the magazine furloughed staff Friday and ceased further print and online content offerings. Though founded in Orange County, the magazine was based in recent years in Carlsbad.
“The whole staff got let go yesterday (no, nothing to do with the heat from the Biden endorsement, just the COVID economy), but I feel like we’re ending on a high note with this one,” Editor in Chief Todd Prodanovich said in an Instagram post about the final issue.
“Funny how you can work a job like this for 10 years and each issue is a completely new and different journey. I’ll really miss that part, and the mag in general, which ends on this issue after 60 years of publication.”
Though many in the surfing community say they saw the end coming, the demise of Surfer still stings for aging surfers who couldn’t wait for the monthly magazine to arrive.
“I have watched many great publications go out of business over the past few years, but this one hit me really hard,” said Steve Hawk, who edited the magazine for eight years in the 1990s. “It was so much more than just a magazine for a lot of surfers of a certain generation. It was a cultural touchstone and groundbreaking in a lot of ways.”
Surfer was among the first niche sports magazines of any kind to be successful, with a pedigree akin to Hot Rod and Field & Stream, Hawk said.

In an emailed response to questions, a spokesman for A360 Media said that “due to pandemic’s economic impact on the industry and the cancellation of live events, staff furloughs and the suspension of operations for some brands are necessary for the time being.” 
Bass, executive director of the Boardroom surfboard show in Del Mar and a longtime industry executive, recalled that the first issue of the magazine contained a photo of a surfer paddling out toward a glassy pristine wave. It became a signature of what the magazine was about. 
“That kind of set the bar for this ideal of going out and finding your own little slice of heaven,” Bass said. “Searching for that, this idea of adventure, of freedom, of individuality, of being different, a little bit of counterculture, all of those things. That is what Surfer magazine was draped in. It was very important.” 
John Severson, an art teacher, photographer, writer and cartoonist, founded Surfer magazine to promote a new surf film, said Steve Pezman, who worked at the magazine for 20 years before founding the Surfer’s Journal. The artistry of the magazine captured readers’ imaginations, he said.

The surfing industry is seeing a boom in business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
One place where business has boomed is at Drill Malibu Surf and Skate.
Craig Clunies-Ross said he and his staff will be riding the surf frenzy wave as long as they can. "It's exploding," Clunies-Ross said. The shop owner said surf lessons and board and wetsuit sales have quadrupled.
"People are chasing the delivery truck to our shop and there's a line before we can even get them off the delivery truck," employee Christian Pflaum said.
After losing both his homes to the Woolsey Fire in 2018, the Malibu business owner thought his luck was turning around in the spring.
"We felt like we'd really righted the ship and got things back to normal and then the pandemic hit this spring," Clunies-Ross said.
Clunies-Ross was forced to shut his doors for a few months, but with the pandemic pushing most outdoors, people want to hit the water.
"I was just stuck in my apartment all day. I'm a musician. I've been working from home and I just wasn't getting outside, so I'd always been thinking about it and just decided to teach myself," surfer Sam Saunders said.
"During COVID, there's not as many ways to be social or be in a community and so for me, surfing has kind of become that way to just connect and just to be around people," surfer Mattie Peña said.
"As stores started to open up and down the California coast, the demand got crazy and companies like O'Neill wetsuits, Catch Surf, Storm Blade, Rip Curl - they started running out of product because stores like mine were seeing elevated business," Clunies-Ross said.
"Before, we would do one-time lessons for first-time tourists who just want to get the California scene. Now, it's more like surf coaching and surf training with people that are renting the beach houses in this area, so we'll have clients that'll stick around for months with us," Pflaum said.
Clunies-Ross said sales have been record-breaking in September. He's on his way to his best year since opening his shop in 2009.