Congratulations and thank you to the grantees for their dedication to connecting communities to the coast through their work! And thank you to the Ocean Protection Council (@opc-california.bsky.social) for their partnership and generously funding this grant cycle. 🐋💙
To see the complete list of organizations and more details about our grants program, read the staff report: documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2026...
child's painting of a whale tail splashing out in front of a setting yellow sun with the words "Announcing the 2026 Whale Tail Grant recipients!" and the Coastal Commission Logo, the Whale Tail plate, and the Ocean Protection Council Logo
At the April meeting, the Coastal Commission approved 47 projects totaling $2 million for this cycle of competitive WHALE TAIL® Grants. Half of the funds are for projects led by, in partnership with, and/or directly engaging California Native American tribes and tribal communities.
Congratulations to the Oxnard Performing Arts Center and Ventura Land Trust for being awarded WHALE TAIL® Grants from the CA Coastal Commission! We look forward to the great work this grant will enable you to do for AD-38.
Screenshot of YourCoast.org showing a map of California with circles representing how many coastal access sites are in each area when zooming in, plus a list of amenities: restrooms, parking, beach access, ADA accessibly, surfing, dogs, stroller access, boating, and camping
What are you doing this weekend? If you're thinking a bit of coastal joy is in order, find your perfect spot on the Your Coast map www.coastal.ca.gov/YourCoast. And get inspired to claim your right to access the coast by watching our coastal access spotlight videos www.coastal.ca.gov/access/highl...
A view looking over a fence past a tree of the green and white water tower in Gonzales, California
This week the California Coastal Commission is meeting in Gonzales because la costa pertenece A TODA la gente! 🥬🍓🌊 Follow the agenda and watch day 3 live: www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/age...
Explore other California Coastal Access Spotlights: coastal.ca.gov/access/highl...
📍Acceso costero destacado: Santa Cruz Coastal Campus y De Anza Beach Trails
Gracias a la Comisión Costera de California y a la Ley Costera por garantizar que todos estos accesos públicos sean gratuitos y estén abiertos todos los días del año.
#accesocostero
#coastalaccess
📍Coastal Access Spotlight: Santa Cruz Coastal Campus and De Anza Beach Trails
Thanks to the California Coastal Commission and the Coastal Act for ensuring that all of these public accessways are free and open every day of the year.
#thankyoucoastalact
#coastalaccess
#californiacoastalcommission
Day two of the April public meeting starts momentarily. Watch live at cal-span.org/meeting/ccc_...
The updated map has several new features – users can now filter by amenities such as locating ADA facilities, search by location, and get directions to coastal access points. Another new feature allows users to contribute photos of their favorite coastal locations directly through the map. 🐋💙
This map update was a collaborative effort led by the Commission’s Mapping Unit , including Cam Denney and Alanna Casey, with assistance from Public Education, Public Access, and our Public Information Units. www.coastal.ca.gov/YourCoast
This interactive map was first published by the Commission in 2015, using funds collected from a public access violation in Monterey County.
The map contains all the information that is in the Commission’s best-selling guidebooks, California Coastal Access Guide and the four regional Experience the California Coast Guide. Both the books and the online map promote public access to over 1,600 sites along California’s coast.
Screenshot of YourCoast.org showing a map of California with circles representing how many coastal access sites are in each area when zooming in, plus a list of amenities: restrooms, parking, beach access, ADA accessibly, surfing, dogs, stroller access, boating, and camping
Coastal Commission staff has completed a comprehensive mapping update to our popular YourCoast.org! #coastalaccess🧵
Watch live now. cal-span.org/meeting/ccc_...
Thank you to all who have included the Protect Our Coast & Oceans Fund on your California tax forms! If you are still working on your return, please consider adding a small amount on line 424 to support coastal education, access, and stewardship grants. www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/che...
Nuestra página de recursos en español aquí: www.coastal.ca.gov/spanish/
💙🐋
To receive the monthly meeting notifications by email, sign up for that email list (and for other Coastal Commission contact lists) at this URL: coastal.ca.gov/SIGNUP/
Meeting Procedures, Definitions, Public Comment How-tos: coastal.ca.gov/meetings/rul...
Archived agendas can be found here: coastal.ca.gov/meetings/arc...
#californiacoastalcommission #thankyoucoastalact #protectourcoastandocean #coastalaccess
two bundled-up people walk along a coastal boardwalk
The April California Coastal Commission meeting will begin at 9 am, Wednesday, April 15th, at the Dennis and Janice Caprara Community Center, 620 5th Street, Gonzales, CA 93926.
Find the current month’s agenda and link to the live stream here: www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/age...
A photo of children running along the beach at sunset. Logo is overlaid with a large "50" with the 0 as a wave in a circle, and text: 50 years of coastal protection, California Coastal Act.
You can share your own California Coastal Memory here: survey.alchemer.com/s3/8645820/T.... Learn about 50 years of coastal protection at www.coastal.ca.gov/coastalact50/
"I took this photo at La Jolla Cove during my visit, and it reminds me how important the Coastal Act remains for preserving these spaces for future generations as well."
Thank you, Chinonso Uzowihe, for sharing your coastal memory in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the CA Coastal Act. 🧵
Looking down at the beach from above, a parent takes a photo of her small child playing on the sand.
"I visited San Diego for the first time a few years ago, and it has one of the most beautiful coastlines I've ever seen; I'm grateful to the Coastal Act for protecting spaces like these for 50 years!" 🧵
Read the Adopted Nature-Based Adaptation Strategies Guidance here: documents.coastal.ca.gov/assets/clima...
#thankyoucoastalact #californiacoastalcommission
It describes how to consider these strategies through a Coastal Act lens, including a set of principles to guide Commission actions on nature-based adaptation strategies as well as a discussion on permitting pathways, Coastal Act analysis, and key considerations for implementing these strategies.
Cover of report with a photo of Ocean Beach SF sand dunes and view of Marin headlands in distance “Nature-Based Adaptation Strategies” “Guidance Through a Coastal Act Lens” “Adopted March 2026” photo by Karen Vu
Nature-based adaptation strategies capitalize on the natural ability of coastal ecosystems to protect coastlines from hazards while also contributing to habitat enhancement, recreation and scenic resource preservation, and carbon sequestration and storage.🧵
Ode To Garibaldi O’ Garibaldi, How I admire your tangerine scales Your dome-shaped, bulging crown Your pouty, sullen frown As you chase us off your lawn Once, bright eyed with electric blue freckles You darted around the weeds But we thinned your forest Dirtied your water with dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and sludge Unleashed an army of prickly purple feeders No wonder you hold a grudge So, you show us your teeth Nip at the goggles of divers Expel us from your garden When it was ours to tend Oona Doner Grade 10, Pasadena
An honorable mention in poetry went to "Ode To Garibaldi" by Oona Doner, grade 10, from Pasadena, in the 2026 California Coastal Art & Poetry Contest.
The Ocean Doesn't Break The world is splitting at the seams, loud with sirens, loud with screens, But far from that, the ocean stays, counting time in slower ways. It carries storms inside its chest, yet still it knows how to rest. It holds the weight of everything and never once stops moving in. I press my feet into the sand, feel the pull, feel something planned— a rhythm older than our fear, a promise that it’s still all here. The tide comes in. The tide retreats. It takes my grief down to its feet. Salt and tears are hard to tell, both are stories oceans tell. And maybe that’s why I come back— not to escape, not to distract, but to remember how to stay when things are breaking far away. Nellie Jane Fouksman Grade 11, San Francisco
Winner in poetry for grades 10-12 in the 2026 California Coastal Art & Poetry Contest is "The Ocean Doesn't Break" by Nellie Jane Fouksman, grade 11, from San Francisco.
www.coastal.ca.gov/art-poetry/2...
