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. Rob Caughlan served as president from 1984 to 1991. In their 2025 report on the previous year, it was estimated that the Surfrider Foundation collected of trash with 40,000 volunteers. Of the waste collected, 83% were
plastics and 32.5% were plastic fragments. The most numerous items collected were
cigarette butts.
Activism The foundation was a key plaintiff in the battle to open
Martin's Beach in
San Mateo County, California. The case resolved in 2018, when the
United States Supreme Court rejected
Vinod Khosla's appeal. 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.
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. In 2024, Surfrider called for the closure of the
Pacific Surfliner rail that runs adjacent to the
San Clemente shoreline. Surfrider said that the rail service had an adverse environmental impact and should be subjected to a full environmental impact study. ==References==