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Ventura, CA -- To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the California Coastal Act, Earth Alert has announced the online release of Heroes of the Coast: the Documentary. The free streaming film is available now at the Earth Alert home page, www.earthalert.org and can be seen below. 

“Posting Heroes of the Coast online makes it possible for all who love the California coast to understand how this fabled region has escaped rampant overdevelopment,” said Janet Bridgers, who wrote and produced the documentary. 

Prop. 20 established the California Coastal Commission (CCC). It qualified for the ballot in June 1972, thanks to the work of thousands of unpaid signature gatherers. It was the last initiative to so qualify, and passed by a significant margin (55%) of voters in November 1972, despite being hugely overspent by opposition that included utilities, energy companies and major land developers. 

The legislation was reauthorized by the legislature four years later, narrowly passing the Senate, thanks to last-minute pressure from Gov. Jerry Brown, who subsequently signed it into law. 

Bridgers explained that the 52-minute documentary was designed for use in classrooms and by coastal advocacy groups to educate those who are too young to remember the astounding political achievement behind one of the country’s strongest pieces of land use legislation. The film includes interview clips from many of those who made Prop. 20 happen, and are now deceased, including the late Peter Douglas, who was interviewed shortly before illness forced his retirement. It also explains the CCC appointment process from direct sources and cites the achievements of the law. 

“With the CCC so much in the news of late, we felt it was important to offer the documentary freely to a new generation on whom the task of coastal protection now falls,” added Bridgers. “Like federal environmental legislation passed in the early 70s, when bipartisan support for the environment existed, this legislation could never be passed now. It’s important to protect it.” 

The documentary is derived from the Heroes of the Coast historic archive of interviews with over 50 major coastal commission executive directors, commissioners and coastal activists. These have been posted to the Internet and transcribed, and are also available at www.earthalert.org.