Will Rogers State Beach Is Filthy!... #Plastic #Glass #Deadbird

Dateline: Saturday morning, March 25, 2017.  I started my audit of #beachtrash at Will Rogers Lifeguard Headquarters (WRHQ) and walked toward Santa Monica. It is perhaps a one mile stretch of beach and shoreline from WRHQ to the border with Santa Monica.  During my walk along the water's edge I came across glass bottles, plastic bottles, assorted trash and a great deal of storm debris, e.g., wood sticks, bamboo, logs, etc.  It is obvious that the L.A. County Dept. of Beaches and Harbors (LACoBH) has NOT bothered to have it's staff hand rake up this unsafe debris, esp. the bamboo shards and sticks that have many sharp edges.  I also came across a dead bird near the high tide line. This would be a simple task to remove IF LACoBH designed someone to walk near the water's edge and hand pick up the #beachtrash.

Here are the photos that I took along this short stretch of beach.  It is hoped that LACoBH will send out a crew to hand pick up this #beachtrash and debris instead of sending a tractor towing a rake which will just grind up this trash and debris into the sand as LACoBH has done near Lifeguard Tower #15 adjacent to WRHQ and which makes it very unpleasant to walk in and enjoy the beach in sand that is full of debris such as wood and bamboo, etc.

Below, it's a stunning stretch of beach nevertheless and it's too bad that cleaning up the #beachtrash near the water's edge is not a priority for LACoBH.  On a Saturday morning, there should not be this amount of #beachtrash and debris.

How difficult would it be for LACoBH to clean up this #beachtrash and debris?... Answer: not difficult at all.  And yet there it is!... uncollected and not disposed of as it ought to be.

You can stick a fork in it this beach is just filthy!...

And below, three angles on the dead bird adjacent to Lifeguard Tower #18 at Santa Monica Canyon.  This bird is right along the near the high tide line and right along where beach patrons walk along the shoreline.  This is what you get in return for those exorbitant beach parking rates, folks...

LACoBH can do better and usually does. Recently, however, I have observed that LACoBH is not daily or regularly cleaning up the #beachtrash and debris near the water's edge at Will Rogers State Beach. This is becoming an epidemic along the local coastline, unfortunately, in terms of #beachtrash and debris not being collected and disposed of by the government agencies charged with this responsibility.  Meanwhile, there is no let up in the collection of beach parking fees.  In other words, there is an ongoing failure of consideration. Beach parking fees and taxes are paid by beach patrons and citizens but this State Beach is not being cleaned daily or regularly near the water's edge.

It's time for LACoBH to do what it is supposed to do.

Respectfully submitted,

William Maguire,
Editor, "County Recurrent News" and
California resident and State Beach patron

(All photos by & Copyright William Maguire 2017.)

***   ***   ***