Headquartered in San Clemente, California, the Surfrider Foundation maintains a small staff, which work to support the organization's network of 200+ grassroots volunteer-led chapters and student clubs.[5] The current CEO is Chad Nelsen.[1]
History
Representatives with Congressman Jimmy Panetta in 2020.
The Surfrider Foundation was started in Malibu, California, in 1984 by a handful of surfers to protest threats to their local surf break at Malibu Point. The organization continued on for several years as a loose advocacy group until 1991, when the first chapters were founded.
Starting in 2005, The Surfrider Foundation was one of several environmental organizations that led efforts to prevent a 6-lane toll road that would have cut through San Onofre State Beach, the Donna O'Neil Land Conservancy, sacred sites of the Acjachemen and endanger San Mateo Creek Watershed. On September 25, 2020, California governor Gavin Newsom signed AB1426 prohibiting the development of any roadway(s) that might impact or encroach upon the state beach, ending the decades long battle.[8][better source needed]
Advocacy against housing and rail
In 2024, Surfrider opposed legislation that would reduce the ability of the California Coastal Commission to block housing in already urbanized parts of the coastal zone.[9]
In 2024, Surfrider called for the closure of the Pacific Surfliner rail that runs adjacent to the San Clemente shoreline.[10] Surfrider said that the rail service had an adverse environmental impact and should be subjected to a full environmental impact study.[10]
