The Access Problem
Pacifica Beach Equity Reform (2018–2023) – For nearly two decades, the same four for-profit surf companies held every permit at Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica, with no path in for nonprofits serving communities long excluded from the coast. The system wasn't just inequitable, it was operating without legal authority under the California Coastal Act.
Salted Roots (then Brown Girl Surf) and City Surf Project spent five years organizing to change it: building a local task force, pushing the city to create the first nonprofit surf access program in California history, and ultimately bringing the case to the California Coastal Commission. On May 11, 2023, the Commission voted unanimously to require equal access for nonprofits and for-profit operators at Linda Mar — equal spots, equal scheduling, equal treatment. Commissioners directed staff to develop model guidelines that could inform permitting reform across the state.
That's what the Surf Justice Collective (SJC) is built to do.
Read Salted Roots' press release
What We’re Fighting For Now
The Pacifica win proved that organized advocacy works. Now SJC is scaling that approach statewide through three landmark bills we helped pass — and are now implementing.
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Parks & Beaches
Requires cities and counties to treat equity-focused nonprofit programs as allowable public use of local parks and beaches — no more permitting barriers for groups of 30 or fewer.
State Parks
Authorizes State Parks to enter community access agreements with nonprofits and Tribal nations, opening the state park system to outdoor equity programs.
Water Safety
Allows nonprofits to distribute water safety resources and information to students in schools all year long instead of just at the beginning of the year or when they first join a school.
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