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jemersmith.bsky.social
Joshua Smith
@jemersmith.bsky.social
380 followers 400 following 13 posts
Public Information Officer for the California Coastal Commission. Former environment reporter. If Neil asks, my favorite planet is Earth.
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jemersmith.bsky.social
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November 21, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
Catch up on the highlights from the November California Coastal Commission meeting: Affordable housing boost, San Diego assisted living, Santa Monica hotel transit passes and beach wheelchairs…

Read the Coastal Currently Newsletter at this URL: conta.cc/4plLXE9

#californiacoastalcommission
November: Affordable housing boost, San Diego assisted living, Santa Monica hotel transit passes and beach wheelchairs
Email from California Coastal Commission Highlights from the California Coastal Commission's monthly meetings Executive Director’s Report Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge and other staff provided
conta.cc
November 19, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
Calling all media professionals with coding skills. The Coastal Commission is looking for a communications specialist to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Coastal Act—the 1976 law that protects public access to our iconic shorelines and beaches.

APPLY: calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/...
Flyer with coding bars and blue wave graphics, with text: We're Hiring, Calling all media professionals with coding skills! COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST (Information Officer 1) COASTAL.CA.GOV/JOBS and the Coastal Commission Coast For All logo
November 20, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
The Coastal Commission continues its fight against plastic pollution and support for beach access for disabled people. The CCC reached an agreement with the Santa Monica Sandbourne Hotel to provide significant benefits to coastal access and protection at the establishment, including... (1/3)
Santa Monica Pier in sunset
November 7, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
First Place Winner
Monterey Kelp Forest
by David Schuessler

"My wife and I visited Monterey in the fall for our honeymoon, where we had the incredible opportunity to scuba dive and explore a giant kelp forest just steps from the shore…”
(🧵)
black and white wide-angle vertical underwater photo looking upward through the kelp forest toward the surface, while a group of rockfish hover above an anemone
November 6, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
opc-california.bsky.social
Applications are open for the 2025–26 WHALE TAIL® Program Tribal & Environmental Justice Small Grants!

🗓️ Deadline: Dec 15, 2025
💻 Info session: Nov 6, 3:30–5 p.m.

Learn more: opc.ca.gov/2025/10/whale-tail-grant
October 13, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
At the California Coastal Commission, we are committed to working in partnership with tribal groups and communities to protect coastal resources, respect cultural heritage, and ensure that indigenous voices are a part of the conversation for coastal decision-making.
setting sun peeks through a keyhole in a coastal rock
October 14, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
Join us for a free, virtual workshop focused on sea level rise in Coastal Development Permits.

📣 California Coastal Futures: Equity, Resilience, and the Permitting Process

🗓 Tuesday, November 4, 2025
🕛 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM PST
📍 Zoom (Registration Required)
🔗 REGISTER HERE: bit.ly/EJSLR

(🧵)
October 15, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
We are hiring! The California Coastal Commission posted the following job announcements on CalCareers (calcareers.ca.gov) and on our website: www.coastal.ca.gov/jobs/

#coastaljobs #coastalplanning #californiacoastalcommission
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October 7, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
The California Coastal Commission is focused on ensuring California’s coast is accessible to all Californians, regardless of their ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status or place of residence.
(🧵)

#californiacoastalcommission
Statement of Principles graphic that shows the Coastal Commission logo surrounded by icons of Coastal Access, Meaningful Engagement, Respect Tribal Concerns, Accountability & Transparency, Habitat & Public Health, Participation in Process, and Climate Change
October 8, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
The October California Coastal Commission meeting will begin at 9am, Wednesday, October 8th, at the Sonesta Redondo Beach and Marina Hotel, 300 N. Harbor Dr., Redondo Beach CA 90277. #californiacoastalcommission

(Photo: King Tide at Redondo Beach Fisherman’s Wharf, November 16, 2024, 10:57a)

Info⬇️
Waves crash against the cement walkway and rocks of Redondo Beach Fisherman’s Wharf on a sunny day
October 7, 2025 at 4:25 PM
jemersmith.bsky.social
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thecacoast.bsky.social California Coastal Commission @thecacoast.bsky.social · Sep 23
LA County, your tax filing deadline is October 15! When you file your California tax form, you can add a buck or more to the Protect Our Coast & Oceans Fund in the Voluntary Contributions section. Every dollar makes a difference! myemail.constantcontact.com/October-15-i...
(photo: Los Courage Camps)
Two kids in wetsuits smile for the camera
September 24, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
Join East Bay Regional Parks and the Coastal Commission for #CoastalCleanupDay on Saturday. Choose your favorite beautiful shoreline park and we'll see you there at 9am patch.com/california/a...
Volunteers Make All The Difference On Coastal Cleanup Day: Alameda
Join others for a good cause: sprucing up beaches and waterways in local parks.
patch.com
September 19, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
Watch now at cal-span.org/meeting/ccc_...
thecacoast.bsky.social California Coastal Commission @thecacoast.bsky.social · Sep 9
The September meeting of the California Coastal Commission is September 10-12 at Fort Bragg Town Hall in Mendocino County, and online. Find the agenda, staff reports, public comment sign-up form, and link to watch the live stream at www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/age...
A photo of Schooner Gulch in Mendocino County. A rocky, sandy beach on a clear, sunny day. The beach is backed by green bluffs. A boy stands in the surf holding a boogie board.
September 10, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
The September meeting of the California Coastal Commission is September 10-12 at Fort Bragg Town Hall in Mendocino County, and online. Find the agenda, staff reports, public comment sign-up form, and link to watch the live stream at www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/age...
A photo of Schooner Gulch in Mendocino County. A rocky, sandy beach on a clear, sunny day. The beach is backed by green bluffs. A boy stands in the surf holding a boogie board.
September 9, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
The Coastal Commission invited California middle & high school students to submit photo essays, podcasts, or narrative essays for our 2025 Climate Storytelling Contest. Katherine Worster of San Francisco won 1st place for her narrative essay. See all the winners at www.coastal.ca.gov/climatechall...
I stood by the side of a road to nowhere. Dry golden grass seemed to stretch to the edge of the sky, occasionally intercepted by a few scraggly oaks. Suddenly, a flock of small black birds flew past me and vanished into the ground. At first glance, one might mistake them for common supermarket parking lot Brewer’s blackbirds, or even lakeside red-winged blackbirds, if not for the gorgeous white on the shoulder of their wings overlaying a bright red and gold layer. These were endangered tricolored blackbirds. Like thousands of other species, tricolored blackbirds were first threatened when industrialization rapidly took over their land. Now, an unexpected effect of the industrial revolution is threatening them once again: climate change. When I became a birdwatcher at the age of eleven, I naively thought there were plenty of birds in the sky, so surely, they’d always be there. I had forgotten that birds are inextricably linked to climate change: a literal canary in the coal mine sounding alarm bells and raising my anxiety. Indirectly, rising sea levels and drying lands force farmers and builders to overtake fragile ecosystems, inch by inch. Directly, the same floods that creep onto these lands seep into the habitats of birds such as snowy plovers, who nest on low marshlands that are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels. It seemed as though everywhere I looked, the Earth and everything in it were only being pushed out and boxed in, flooded and burned, melted and frozen - relentless victims of the looming menace of climate change. Due to the interconnectedness of species, I knew what affected birds would also affect humanity. And so, at the age of eleven, the only thing I felt about climate change was despair. The delicate ecosystems in the world were spiraling out of control, and I was spiraling with them. Bird watching transformed into desperation, and every bird spotted led me to dejectedly think, “Well, at least there's one left.” But one day, realization struck me. At least one was left? That wasn't an opportunity for depression, it was a reason for joy! In the face of a lack of governmental action and doomsday headlines, the natural world was holding on. I’d seen tricolored blackbirds and snowy plovers, and that alone was something to celebrate. What if a future generation no longer had birds to watch? Once I became grateful, optimism came easily. I saw that all around the world, humanity was holding on, just as birds were. People were organizing to protect neighborhoods from the damages of climate change, advocating for policies aimed at curbing fossil fuel use, and rebuilding fragile ecosystems through habitat restoration. As I grew older, I learned that I could join them in making a difference. After all, birds serve as an essential indicator of an ecosystem’s health. In the 1960s, it was bird deaths by the thousands that led scientists to investigate the chemical pesticide DDT and ultimately discover that it was responsible not only for killing birds but for causing cancer in humans. Similarly, birds today are at the forefront of climate change, so by tracking their populations and movements, we can reveal the previously unseen effects of climate change. More importantly, however, birds provide hope for the future. I birdwatch with a group of youth aged seven to seventeen, and I have seen firsthand how taking the time to observe nature at work and be grateful for it can inspire anyone overwhelmed by despair. After all, if humanity is able to care about the Earth, we'll be motivated to protect it. So, as I stood by the side of the road, watching the tricolored blackbirds fly over my head alongside my fellow youth birdwatchers, I realized that the road didn't lead to nowhere. Every road leads somewhere, as long as we are inspired to take it.
August 29, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
Catch up on what you missed at the August California Coastal Commission Meeting: Huntington Beach air show, Monterey County short-term rentals, SpaceX rocket launches…
conta.cc/45LeGKp

#californiacoastalcommission #coastalstewardship
August: Huntington Beach air show, Monterey County short-term rentals, SpaceX rocket launches
Email from Highlights from the California Coastal Commission's monthly meetings Executive Director's Report Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge and other staff provided an update on recent agency act
conta.cc
August 22, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
The California Coastal Commission is hiring for multiple positions in the Coastal Program Analyst Series (1-3). Join us to help preserve our coastline.

Multiple locations are available. Visit coastal.ca.gov/JOBS/

#californiacoastalcommission #californiacoast #coastalcareers
Flyer with Coastal Commission logo that says "We Are Hiring! Multiple positions: Coastal Program Analyst Series, Coastal Program Analyst 1-3, Help Preserve Our Coastline, Join the California Coastal Commission!" Multiple locations avail. APPLY NOW: bit.ly/CACoastJobs" with a QR code and an image of a crowded swimming beach.
August 26, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
The draft of the Coastal Commission's guidance for achieving plastic pollution reduction in Coastal Development Permits, Local Coastal Programs, & other planning documents is available for public comment through Sept 18, to plastics@coastal.ca.gov. Read it at documents.coastal.ca.gov/assets/env-j...
documents.coastal.ca.gov
August 25, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
The California Coastal Commission is hiring for positions at locations up and down the coast. From Tribal Affairs Coordinator, to Coastal Planner, to Enforcement Officer, to Port Planner... Find all the details at www.coastal.ca.gov/jobs/
Join us and make a difference!
Rainbow wave logo with text: Coast For All, California Coastal Commission
August 19, 2025 at 7:52 PM
jemersmith.bsky.social
You can also quickly come up to speed on past meetings using our Coastal Currently archives: www.coastal.ca.gov/press/coasta...
August 22, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
"As part of the permitting process that shapes the coast, Rachel Pausch reveals the ecological stories whispered by seedheads, puddles, and animal tracks. 'I am translating science to decision-makers.'"
Read about our staff ecologist Rachel Pausch in
@baynature.org
baynature.org/2025/08/21/j...
Job: Coastal Lookout - Bay Nature
Between ambitions and amphibians, an ecologist mediates.
baynature.org
August 21, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
At Torrey Pines State Beach, King Tides flood a walkway and preview how rising sea levels could threaten California. These impacts could affect public access, infrastructure, and safety.
A photo of waves from a King Tide event washing over ripraf and flooding a pedestrian walkway at Torrey Pines State Beach in San Diego, California. On the top left part of the slide, text in a banner reads: “King Tides Snapshot: Torrey Pines State Beach (1/2/2022).” On the bottom right part of the slide, text reads “Photo: The King Tides Project”. Hashtag logo #EJinSLR.
August 20, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
Coastal Cleanup Day will be Saturday, September 20, from 9 am to noon. Special “trash” items will be hidden at cleanup sites all across the state. If you find one of them, you can redeem it for valuable prizes! Please share. #coastalcleanupday
August 15, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Reposted by Joshua Smith
thecacoast.bsky.social
Final day of the August Coastal Commission meeting is live now at cal-span.org/meeting/ccc_...
August 15, 2025 at 4:21 PM