1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Defend California's Coastal Management Program The Trump administration has directed NOAA to conduct an out-of-cycle review of California's Coastal Management Program under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act. What began as a dispute over space launch activity has now expanded to cover offshore drilling, energy, and infrastructure, a clear effort to target one of California's most effective tools for protecting its coastline from overdevelopment and shielding vulnerable wildlife and habitat. For nearly 50 years, California's coastal program has worked exactly as the CZMA intended, a state-led system, built and refined by Californians, that protects beach access and fragile ecosystems while still allowing for balanced development. This review looks less like routine oversight and more like an attempt to use federal pressure to override a program the state designed and has every right to administer. We need to stop this federal overreach and oppose this unjust audit of California's Coastal Management Program.