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www.naturistsociety.com www.naturistaction.org www.naturisteducation.org

Preserving Wreck BeachThreats on multiple fronts require vigilance ... and endurance

VANCOUVER, BC - Activist Judy

Williams will tell you that today's threat

to Wreck Beach from the shipping of jet

fuel through nearby waterways is similar

to a challenge she fended off successfully

in 1987. At once, you realize the extent of

the ongoing challenge to the beach and

the personal commitment Williams has

made to protect it.

Williams heads the Wreck Beach

Preservation Society, but she also chairs

the Fraser River Coalition, and she’s

associated with the Federation of Canadi-

an Naturists and a healthy handful of other activ-

ist organizations. Of course, Williams is a board

member of the Naturist Action Committee. Each

position complements the others, but the activist

mélange makes for long and eventful days.

Those who are familiar with Wreck Beach

will recognize some of the threats to the prized

but fragile clothing-optional site:

• cliff erosion

• threats to nearby Booming Ground Creek

• jet skis

• roads to the beach

• UBC and its various intrusive towers

• Point Grey Dump

• beach development (e.g. washrooms)

• cliff instability due to construction, de-

watering, traffic vibration

Point

Grey

Dump

Fraser River

North Arm

WRECK

BEACHUBC

VancouverTowers

South Arm

proposed JET-A

fuel terminal

Delta

YVRRichmond

existing JET-A

fuel terminal

CANADA

UNITED STATES See Wreck Beach on page 2.

Judy Williams.

2

Wreck Beach continued from page 1

TOWERS

As is the case for most clothing-optional beaches, the

threats to Wreck Beach are not orderly and well behaved.

Instead, they are clustered and overlapped. At the present

time, Judy Williams is dealing with plans by the Univers-

ity of British Columbia to build new towers on UBC

property that overlooks the beach. This has become a

recurring challenge.

The University seeks to build taller high rise structures

that loom above the beach, breaking the visual barrier that

has preserved the unique separateness of Wreck Beach. The

present threat is the Ponderosa Hub, a cluster of four new

towers. As the huge building are concentrated closer to the

edge of the cliff above the beach, the stability of the cliff face

is incrementally compromised, creating the ultimate

possibility of a collapse that would obliterate the beach

altogether.

POINT GREY DUMP SITE

Since 1938, ships have dumped waste material into the

Georgia Strait at a site that became known as the Point Grey

Dump Site. Located near the mouth of Burrard Inlet, just 10

kilometers (6.2 miles) off the coast of the mainland (and

Wreck Beach), the dumped materials are supposed to be

confined to an area of one nautical mile radius centered at

49°15.40´N, 123°21.90´W. However, studies have found

loads of dumped material more than 4 km outside the

defined site and a trail of refuse and a well defined trail of

debris leading to the site from Vancouver Harbour..

The dump is made up primarily of navigation channel

dredge spoils and waste from forest industry sites on the

Fraser River. The waste site’s proximity to Wreck Beach

has raised questions of its effect on those who bathe in the

water that laps at Wreck Beach.

Activists, including Williams, contend that the dump

site should have been decommissioned in the 1950’s. Re-

cent kills of millions of cockles and jelly fish off the outer

banks of Wreck Beach may be attributable to illegal dump-

ing at the offshore site.

JET FUEL UP THE FRASER

A consortium of commercial airlines at Vancouver Inter-

national Airport (YVR) have formed a nonprofit corporation,

Vancouver Airport Fuel Facilities Corporation (VAFFC), to

arrange a less expensive source of Jet Fuel-A. Existing

sources include a refinery and offloading dock on the Burrard

Inlet. Those are connected to VYR by a 40 km overland

pipeline. Additional jet fuel is brought in by as many as 35

trucks a day from a refinery in the U.S.

The airlines wish to have the option of buying huge

amounts fuel on the world market and having it shipped by

sea from places like Singapore. Some seagoing oil tankers

used for that purpose are given the designation, “Panamax.”

Those are enormous ships of the very largest size able to fit

through the locks of the Panama Canal. The VAFFC

proposal would have Panamax-class oilers sailing into the

vitally biodiverse Fraser River Estuary that comprises part of

Wreck Beach on the river’s North Arm and part of the Reifel

Wildlife Sanctuary on the South Arm.

The proposed new offloading terminal would be located

on the South Arm of the Fraser and connected to YVR by a

15 km pipeline. An 80,000 liter storage facility would be

constructed at the site on the north bank of the Fraser’s

South Arm. Consisting of “six to eight” 6-storey tanks, the

tank farm would have containment large enough to hold a

spill for just a single tank.

That’s the type of planning that worries Williams. But

if the VAFFC cannot make the barge off-loading facility and

tank farm happen on the South Arm because of the outraged

opposition to it, they will try again for the North Arm

which runs beside Wreck Beach. In 1987, the plan was to

barge a million liters a week past Wreck Beach into sensi-

tive estuarine habitat. Says Williams: “We went Federal

with our opposition and stopped them! We must stop them

again!”

Judy Williams is not alone, of course. Few activists

are. She is a driving force for the causes she holds dear, but

she deflects accolades.

Says Williams: “I have indeed had many helping hands

over the years. My value has been in the multitude of con-

nections I have made with community groups, community

leaders, politicians, academics, bureaucrats and most impor-

tantly of all, those with the thousands of naturist friends who

have been the wind beneath my wings.

“The continuity of being able to remember (living his-

tory book!) what most of these just “wet behind the ears”

bureaucrats have only heard about, allows me to pick up the

phone and be on a first-name basis with whomever might be

able to help us on the opposite end of that phone line! I just

stopped by the Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft base the

other day to chat about their emergency response strategies

in case of jet fuel spills. Normally, one would have to have

an appointment before they would buzz you through those

gates, but I have had a 30-year love affair with the wonderful

commanders and crew of the base, and I was buzzed right in

when I just decided to drop by and quiz them last week. It’s

all about the knee bone being connected to the hip bone and

the hip bone being connected to the back bone. Everything

is connected. The connections one makes in life really can

and do make a difference when one is fighting to save what

one loves...as in my case... Wreck Beach!”

3Please Give to NAC(to the tune of “The Drinking Man’s Diet”) www.youtube.com/allansherman

NAC, NAC, please give to NAC.They keep the laws of this land on track.Their work takes some moneyTo stay in the sunGive to NAC, NAC, NAC.

I like to talk with Bob Morton.He knows how to legislate fun.He’ll use the right forumTo take on SantorumAnd soon, we’ve won!

NAC, NAC, please give to NAC.They keep the laws of this land on track.It’s all of our duty.To stay in the nudeGive to NAC, NAC, NAC.

Right-wingers sure make me crazy.They think being naked is bad.They have no ideaWe’re just being freeAnd it makes us glad.NAC, NAC, please give to NAC.

They keep the laws of this land on track.Dig deep in your walletAnd give it your all.Give to NAC, NAC, NAC.

Please Give to NAC!

In the course of any given day, I may receive hundreds of

NAC and NEF-related e-mails. Some are informational, some

are offers of help, and some are pleas for help. Some of my

favorites come from Kath Rooney, who is a benefactor

of NAC and NEF, a former board member and secretary

of both organizations, and a current NAC Area Rep. Al-

though Kath lives in Michigan with her husband, Phil

Curtiss, her e-mails often seem to come from a different

place, both figuratively and literally. In May, she wrote:

Greetings from a plane between Detroit and

LaGuardia. This song is to the Allan Sherman song

"Drinking Man's Diet." He did parodies. Anyway, here

are the lyrics for this incantation.

Kath included the lyrics that appear here, to the

left, and then she continued her e-mail.

In my eternal quest for approval, I hope you like

this, or, at least that this isn't

too awful. I'd hate to lose the

love of this group of addressees!

Gee, maybe I shouldn't send it.

Maybe I should stop listening to

the voices in my head. Just try

it. WILL YOU SHUT UP!

Nyah, nyah, nyah.

Excuse me, I have an alter

ego to toss out the window. See

you all soon.

Love,

Kath

I chuckled and saved the e-

mail on my computer. I knew

that Kath and Phil would be at

the Eastern Naturist Gathering

the following month in Penn-

sylvania. I immediately

responded, writing flippantly,

“That's too funny, Kath! You'll

be at the Gathering to lead the

singing?”

But Kath is not an individual to be taken lightly or

provoked with an idle challenge.

The 2011 Eastern Gathering was one of the most

enjoyable TNS events in which I’ve participated. Even

so, I was unable to escape from the various naturist

crises of the moment. When the time came for the Star

Search talent show, I was still working on an urgent

response to a proposed anti-nudity ordinance in

Madison, Wisconsin.

Kath was at the talent show. She was in the talent

show, leading the singing. I hadn’t known she’d be on

the program. She sang Please Give to NAC - and I

missed it. My penance is to make sure you don’t miss

it.

Kath Rooney

by Bob Morton

Executive Director

Naturist Action Committee

4

Prolific naturist author and editor Mark Storey has compiled an extensive naturist

bibliography, and he has shared it with the public on the Web site of The Naturist

Society, where TNS Webmaster Carmen Hamm has carefully placed it for easy use.

Here is a powerful alternative for any naturist who has ever felt compelled to shrug

helplessly and say, “Well, it’s just my opinion.” The bibliography includes the

opinions of others, as well as carefully researched psychological, sociological,

philosophical and historical data.

In presenting the resource, Storey has not limited the list to naturist-friendly

propaganda, though such volumes are surely included. Also featured in the

bibliography are critically unfavorable publications, the very titles of which may make

a naturist cringe. Those are important, too.

For those who may be daunted by a compilation of hundreds of book titles, Storey

has thoughtfully created his own “Top Ten” list of nonfiction works from “early”

nudism, as well as his “Top Twenty” nonfiction titles from “later” research.

Understanding that few have a comprehensive naturist library at their fingertips, Storey

even suggests affordable sources for some of the more readily available works.

Naturist Education Foundation Executive Director Bob Morton comments: “As

with any bibliography that deals with a dynamic topic, the list is still growing. I

strongly encourage naturists to take advantage of this valuable and impressive resource.

I suspect you’ll feel encouraged that such a bibliography exists, you’ll be delighted

that someone is doing this sort of work on behalf of naturists, and you won’t be

surprised that The Naturist Society is behind it all.”

The Naturist Society

A naturist bibliography

Mark Storey at work in his favorite writing uniform.

www.naturistsociety.com/tns/resources/TNSBibliography.html

A snippet from the comprehensive Naturist

Bibliography on the Web site of The Naturist Society.

TNS Webmaster Carmen Hamm also

handles advertising for The Naturist

Society – when she’s not at the beach.

THIS URL IS CASE SENSITIVE

5

California ticketing continues, expandsSAN DIEGO, California – Citations for nudity contin-

ue to be issued at San Onofre State Beach, despite the fact

that the Naturist Action Committee has, to this point, won a

dismissal for each ticket that has been contested. The

California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) has

shifted its tactic, attempting to issue nudity citations as

infractions, instead of misdemeanors, as required by law.

An infraction carries no potential for jail time, which is

attractive for those who wish to plead guilty. However, the

maximum fine per incident can be the same as for a misde-

meanor. Significantly, charging nudity as an infraction

deprives a ticketed individual of the right to a trial by jury.

When a nudity charge is heard only by a judge, conviction is

more of a certainty.

DPR has also begun issuing tickets for nudity at other

traditional clothing-optional sites in state parks. Recently,

citations were distributed at Garrapata State Park. Regulars

at Gaviota State Park have reported that park rangers there

NAC Updates

On the cliff above the beach at Camp Pendleton, California Parks Department Ranger Carmen Zone directs the operation on July 17.

Military Police, one with a police dog, are accompanied by a ranger from the California Department of Parks and Recreation as they

roust a sunbather on the beach of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Neither NAC nor the local naturist group, Friends of San Onofre

Beach, has ever encouraged or endorsed trespass on the military base.

have told beachgoers in a traditionally clothing-optional area

to get dressed. The Naturist Action Committee is not

surprised. For thirty years, DPR managed nudity in state

parks under the Cahill Policy. But Allen Baylis, a Cali-fornia

attorney and member of the NAC board, points out that when

DPR rescinded the Cahill Policy at San Onofre State Beach

in 2008, the Department demonstrated its ability – and

willingness – to terminate clothing-optional recreation at any

state park unit.

The statewide ticketing and warnings are completely at

odds with what DPR officials have led a nationwide nudist

association to believe.

Meanwhile, naked refugees from the citations of the

park rangers at San Onofre have been skinny-dipping and

sunning themselves beyond the southern border of the park.

Nudity on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is not a new

development. Though it has never been condoned by NAC or

Friends of San Onofre Beach, it has been going on for

decades. On July 17, 2011, military police were accompan-

ied by park rangers on a sweep of the Pendleton portion of

the beach. Neither arrests nor citations resulted.

The Naturist Action Committee continues its effort for

official designation of clothing-optional sites at DPR units

across the state. NAC has submitted a petition to DPR and to

the State Park and Recreation Commission, asking for

designation. Responding to a NAC Action Alert, hundreds of

naturists contacted members of the commission in support of

the petition. At the meeting of the Commission in Sacra-

mento on July 8, the Commission was reluctant to proceed on

the matter, citing perceived costs at a time of extreme budget

austerity.

6

BLM – CA Desert District

NAC Updates Dallas Co, Iowa

WASHINGTON, DC – Kudos to AANR!

When the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) pub-

lished its Interim Final Supplementary Rules for its Cali-

fornia Desert District on June 25, 2010, naturists were

dismayed that the proposed rules prohibited public nudity

“at all developed sites and areas and all [Off Road Vehicle

(ORV)] open areas.”

According to Dave Graber, the recently resigned Gov-

ernment Affairs Chair of the American Association for

Nude Recreation, AANR and its regional affiliate, AANR-

West, sent letters of concern to BLM and encouraged their

members to do likewise. AANR, AANR-West and their

members deserve the appreciation of naturists for their

straightforward and productive involvement

But the Naturist Action Committee was not sitting

idle. NAC retained legal representation in Washington

DC to address the BLM matter on behalf of NAC and

naturists. NAC’s counsel in Washington is a former high

ranking official of the Department of Interior. DOI is the

cabinet-level agency that manages eight “technical

bureaus,” including BLM.

NAC pushed and AANR pulled.

The result was not perfect, but it afforded some

clarification. In its FINAL Supplementary Rules, BLM

wrote: “The intent of the Interim Final Supplementary

Rules and the Final Supplementary Rules is to allow

lands with a lower concentration of visitors, such as

wilderness areas, to be clothing-optional.

“The Interim Final Supplementary Rules prohibited

public nudity ‘at all developed sites and areas and all

ORV open areas,’ and included the definition of

‘developed sites and areas’ that is codified at 43 CFR

8360.0-5(c). In the Final Supplementary Rules, the BLM

has modified the prohibition against public nudity so that

compliance will be possible without referring to the

definition of ‘developed sites and areas.’ Instead, the areas

where public nudity is prohibited are listed in the

prohibition itself: (1) Developed camping and picnicking

areas containing items such as a table or toilet facility, (2)

visitor centers, and (3) all ORV open areas.

“The BLM has determined that this rule, as

modified, provides sufficient clarity. Although the term

‘developed sites and areas’ no longer appears in the

prohibition against public nudity, it appears in other Final

Supplementary Rules and is therefore included in these

Final Supplementary Rules.”

DALLAS COUNTY, Iowa – In rural Dallas County

Iowa, people have enjoyed being nude along the Raccoon

River for as long as anyone can remember. In fact, those

who wish to avoid the anti-nudity ordinances of the nearby

towns of Adel or West Des Moines seek out the unincor-

porated parts of the county, where there are no such

ordinances, and the right to skinny-dip and sunbathe nude

has not be taken from them. In other words, they’re

playing by the established rules.

Of course, some feel the need to complain about

nudity wherever they encounter it, even when nudity is not

illegal. Dallas County Sheriff Chad Leonard has been

quoted as saying, “It’s not a high volume of complaints,

but it just would be nice to have a tool to use, because we

do get criticized.”

So, limiting personal freedoms becomes justified if it

provides a “tool” that can mitigate criticism of a law

enforcement agency. As ghastly as that seems, the “tool”

argument has been at the center of many attempts at anti-

nudity laws (cf. City of Huntington Beach, California, City

of Overland Park, Kansas, City of Madison, Wisconsin).

Iowa state law criminalizes nudity only when it can

be proved that the intent of the nudity was the sexual

gratification of any person. County Attorney Wayne

Reisetter has concluded that the exposure of skin on the

river cannot be prosecuted under state law. According to

the Des Moines Register, Reisetter has said, “These are

just people who are running around naked. In other words,

what’s being done is on the “right” side of the law.

But what of the Raccoon River Retreat Center, which

is located on the river? Sunbathers bask nude there, and

owner Harold Wells was the subject of a 2001 county

investigation into charges that he was allowing nudity

illegally. A section of Iowa state law adopted in 1997

forbids nudity at any business that is required to have a

sales tax permit. But according to Wells, his resort is not

a business. Rather, it is a gay-friendly, free retreat that does

not collect sales tax. The owner and his nonpaying guests

have taken care to make proper use a freedom they still

possess under a very strict law.

And because they have used that freedom, they may

lose it. Dallas County Board of Supervisors Chairman

Kim Chapman summarizes his point of view: “You end

up with laws and opinions,” Chapman is quoted as saying,

“because people fail to use good common sense. That

appears to be the case here.”

____________________________This article appeared in modified form as part of a larger

article by the same author in the July issue of the GNI

Informer, a publication of Gay Naturists, International.

7

NAC Updates

TNS members Jim Dickey, Claudette Richards and Fritz Terppe served as the ballot counting crew for the NAC and NEF board election.

NAC and NEF

Election Results

Naturist Education Foundation

NEF grant assists production

of new Haulover beach guide

BAYLIS

HARRIS

SCHLOSS

OSHKOSH, Wisconsin – Members of

The Naturist Society have cast their ballots

and elected three well known activists to

serve as directors of NAC and NEF. Elected

to 3-year terms are Allen Baylis, Charles

Harris, and Morley Schloss. Baylis and

Schloss were incumbents, Harris is a former

board member. Seating / reseating of the

newly elected directors will take place in

October.

Candidate Rich Pasco remains a NAC

Area Representative.

By bylaw, the board members of the

Naturist Education Foundation are the same

as those of the Naturist Action Committee.

However, the two volunteer organizationss

are operated separately.

2011 TNS Youth Camp a Success

Larsen’s Beach: new twists

HAULOVER BEACH, Florida – A grant from the Naturist Education Foun-

dation (NEF) has assisted South Florida Free Beaches (SFFB) in the updated

production of its Guidebook to the Naturist Beach. The informative 16-page publi-

cation, a project of SFFB and the Florida Naturist Association, is offered without

charge to beachgoers at Haulover Beach, a popular clothing-optional destination in

Miami-Dade County, Florida. Guidebook editor Michael Kush deftly incorporated

the revisions, which include new information prepared by NEF board member Mark

Storey. The printing run for the revised publication has been set at 20,000 copies.

NEF directs its funds primarily toward internally initiated projects, but the

501(c)(3) nonprofit does occasionally make external grants for deserving projects that

are consistent with its informational and educational mission.Online preview of the revised Guidebook

www.sffb.com/pdfs/beachguide.pdf

LOXAHATCHEE GROVES, Florida – A record

number of children and parents attended The Naturist

Society’s Youth Camp in July at Sunsport Gardens

Family Naturist Resort. The weeklong event included an

excursion to Haulover Beach, hosted by B.E.A.C.H.E.S.

Foundation and South Florida Free Beaches. Longtime

naturist Richard Mason talked with the campers about the

history of the clothing-optional public beach.

Several members of Florida Young Naturists assist-

ed at the camp. Activities for more experienced campers

included an obstacle course on Sunsport’s lake and a

challenging orienteering course set up by Blair Brumley.

Campers used compasses to chart a path through

Sunsport’s 40 acres.

LEPEULI, Hawaii – The battle continues over a

rancher’s fence across a long-used public trail to Larsen’s

Beach. The beach is a traditional clothing-optional site on

the island of Kauai. Since the article about the matter in

the June, 2011, issue of The Newsletter and the NAC

Update in the July issue, the State Land Use Commis-

sion (LUC) has issued an interpretation that was unfavor-

able to the land owner, Waioli Corp., and its lessee,

rancher and avowed naturist foe Bruce Laymon.

The interpretation showed that the fence is signifi-

cantly misplaced. While naturists and others celebrated,

lawyers for Waioli issued a stern rebuke of LUC. Just

days later, the Commission issued a brief memorandum,

rescinding the interpretation on a procedural technicality.

8

Robert Morton - Texas

Chair/Executive Directorexecdir@naturistaction.org

Bill Schroer - Michigan

Treasurernaturist18@gmail.com

Mark Storey - Washington

Secretarystorey98@aol.com

Allen Baylis - California

rab@baylislaw.com

The Newsletter Editor: Bob Morton

The Newsletter (ISBN N9. 1075-735X) is published by The Naturist Society LLC, Naturist Action Committee, and Naturist Education Foundation, P.O. Box 132, Oshkosh, WI 54903. Entire contents copyright ©2011. Published items may be reprinted with prior permission. Request an annual subscription with a donation of at least $25 to NAC. Your financial assistance is vital! VISA/Mastercard donations accepted at (800) 886-7230, or you may donate online through the NAC Web page: www.naturistaction.org.

Morley Schloss - Florida

morleynaturist@hotmail.com

Dick Springer - Maine

dandespringer@gmail.com

Judy Williams - British

Columbia

judyw@wreckbeach.org

Don Zirbel - Oregon

orcoba@live.com

Contact the NAC Board

www.naturistaction.org

www.naturisteducation.org

(800) 886-7230

www.naturistsociety.com

Upcoming naturist festivals,

gatherings and events www.naturistsociety.com Click on "Events"

AVALONfestAvalon Resort - Paw Paw, West VirginiaAugust 11 - 14, 2011 Phone: (304) 947-5600www.avalon-resort.com

WESTERN GATHERINGLupin Lodge - Los Gatos, CaliforniaAugust 11 - 14, 2011 Phone: (408) 353-9200www.lupinlodge.org

Beach Stewardship at Gaviota State ParkSANTA BARBARA COUNTY, California – Friends

of Gaviota leader (and NAC Area Rep) Dennis Craig Smith

has reported another successful FoG Beach Clean Up. On

July 11, members collected a dumpster full of trash that

should have been taken home with park users.

Smith reports: “Carry In/Carry Out, as a concept,

seems to be losing ground on our coastline, but the nude

recreation devotees of FoG showed once again that they want

so much to have a clean beach, trail, and parking area at San

Onofre/north and Vista del Mar that they’re willing to spend

Members of Friends of Gaviota make a difference at Gaviota State Park. From left to right: Bob Gheno, Margaret Sazani, and Joe McKenna.

hours carrying away other people’s trash. From loaded baby

diapers to a completely ‘stocked’ woman’s purse (license,

passport, and necessities), Friends of Gaviota removed close

to a thousand pounds of rubbish (including many things that

challenge the imagination). As we collected bags of trash, we

came to wonder why people would be conscientious enough

to pick up after their dogs, place ‘it’ in blue bags, and then

casually toss those little blue suckers in the bushes for other

people to pick up and dispose of. Wearing clothes for every

activity is not the only strange thing many people do.

“The board members of FoG

thank all those who took part in

the clean up and collected smelly

bags of human thoughtlessness. It

was a great day on the beach with a

larger than usual turn out of

friendly, naked beach goers helping

celebrate Nude Recreation Week.

Body acceptance also means re-

specting and taking care of the

environment. The only thing

obscene on the beach and along the

trail on Sunday was the amount of

trash inconsiderate people left

behind for others to remove.”