Fireworks flap divides coastal town in Northern California

A mile down shore, on a small rocky island, some nesting seabirds reacted differently, according to local birders who soon made their feelings known.

The birds, they said, flew about in disarray, uncharacteristically abandoning their nests after dark and leaving their chicks vulnerable to predators.

"They were exploding their fireworks in the middle of nesting season," bird enthusiast Diane Hichwa said of Waterman's fireworks committee. "It was hardly patriotic and absolutely inappropriate."

This summer, Gualala will have no Fourth of July fireworks.

It won't be alone. With fires in the tinder-dry state burning through more than 400,000 acres in recent weeks, communities around the state are canceling their plans, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has urged them to do.

In Gualala (pronounced way-LA-la), the circumstances are different.

After the 2006 fireworks, environmentalists asked the California Coastal Commission to intervene in any plans for future displays in this unincorporated village about 160 miles north of San Francisco on grounds that fireworks frighten pets and cause air pollution. Local bird groups conducted a study last year that suggested harm to the birds.

In June, the commission banned the fireworks display. Then a Superior Court judge refused to stay the commission's ruling.

The flap over fireworks has prompted cross words between neighbors and threats of business boycotts. Meanwhile, the Gualala Festivals Committee, which organized the fireworks, has sued the commission.

Lawyers for a watchdog group that filed the suit say the commission's decision to ban fireworks has less to do with nesting birds than with power.

"Independence Day celebrates freedom from arbitrary, overreaching government power," said Graham Owen, an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation. "In this case, the Coastal Commission is acting like the Grinch that stole the Fourth of July."

Residents are also blaming each other for the standoff. "This is a divided town," said Marshall Sayegh, a festivals committee spokesman. "People don't like to admit that but it's the truth."

Fireworks proponents point to the Sea Ranch, a wealthy, private community nearby in Sonoma County that relies on Gualala for most services. The bird island lies just offshore from the Sea Ranch, and residents say many of the complaints came from there.

Gualala's two supermarkets removed fireworks donations jars after some customers -- many of them residents of the Sea Ranch -- threatened a boycott, Waterman said. At a local pharmacy, employees stopped wearing buttons advertising the Independence Day celebration when shoppers balked.

"There are a lot of wealthy people around here with way too much time on their hands," said Michael Thomas, who owns a diner in town. "This thing has made enemies out of friends. It's terrible."

The study monitoring the bird population on the island last year found that a larger than usual number of nests were abandoned around the time of the 2007 fireworks show, said Hichwa, the birder. "Do private individuals have the right to diminish the quality of public lands?" she asked.

Sayegh, the festival committee spokesman, said critics "are acting like we're setting off fireworks right over a rookery. The island is a mile away. You can't even see it from the launch site."

In a statement, John Fox, community manager for the Sea Ranch, said he supported the Coastal Commission ruling. "The birds couldn't change their nesting habits," and the committee "wouldn't change the timing of its patriotic display," he wrote.