SAN CLEMENTE : Surfrider Seeks Beach Keeper Sponsors

A new beach management program by the Surfrider Foundation will recruit corporate sponsors whose employees will take responsibility for a section of the shore.

Called Beach Keeper, it is patterned after Caltrans’ Adopt-a-Highway program, where corporate sponsors provide litter cleanup in exchange for having their corporate logos displayed on road signs, Edward Mozzerella, a Surfrider spokesman, said Thursday.

Under terms of the first partnership, Surfing magazine will pay $6,000 annually for three years to help defray cleanup and related costs at the Trestles surfing beach just south of the Orange County line.

Surfrider’s local chapter will provide volunteers and join the magazine’s 30-member staff to help maintain the Trestles parking lot and walkways to the beach.

“It was an opportunity that had been discussed with Surfrider officials and our publisher, Bob Mignogna,” said Michael Marckx, a magazine spokesman. “Mignogna wanted us to be the one to kick-start the program, and a lot of the staff members surf Trestles, which is probably one of the most popular surfing beaches in Southern California.”

State parks and beaches had been seeking such public-private partnerships, said Michael Tope, chief ranger for the South Coast District.

“We’re getting the beach cleaned up and also a group of people who care and are sensitive about the beach,” Tope said.

Signs in place at Trestles on Thursday have the state parks’ logo plus those of Surfrider and Surfing magazine. Beneath the logos are the words “Pack Your Trash.”

Surfrider officials said they will recruit corporate sponsors in Orange, San Diego and Los Angeles counties. If successful, the program may be extended to other states. “We’re looking into working with Malibu and even expanding on the East Coast,” Mozzerella said.