It's going to take some time before the ball gets rolling. I'll try to explain roughly how it'll work. Excuse the alphabet soup.
1. The Blue Ribbon Task Force, a bunch of political appointees, runs the game.
2. The state compiles stakeholders from the region. That's anyone who "uses" the ocean: anglers, commercial fishermen, divers, bird-watchers, even artists who paint it, and oh yeah, representatives from well-heeled environmental groups such as the NRDC.
3. The stakeholders meet to cook up reserve proposals. Those are "evaluated" by the Science Advisory Team, who rank them for conservation value, recreation, and economic impact.
4. The BRTF / DFG send the packages off to the state Fish and Game Commission. That 5 member panel decides what to close.
Public comment is welcome throughout the process, either in person at public meetings (BRTF and F&G) or directly to the state via email. We'll let you know when we think it is worth your time, but I hope everyone will follow the process individually and take the opportunity to have his or her voice heard.
If you're still reading, my thanks. As I see it, kayak anglers are uniquely vulnerable because much of our use is determined by where we can get on the water. Our first step as a group is to get someone on the stakeholder's panel. The state will call for nominations in a few months.
I will submit my name. I hope others will as well, plus we'll need an alternate. At a minimum, the Stakeholder's Panel meets at least once a month during business hours. The meetings can be anywhere in the study area, in this case Pt Conception to the border. It is a serious time and travel commitment that will take roughly a year to complete.
Our candidates will need support via phone, snail mail and email.
The other near-term task is to put together our list of so-called holy sites. We'll begin the effort in a week or two.
Brad makes good points. In the first run-through of the MLPA up in CenCal, the powerboat community did not take care of our interests. Down here Tom Raftican of UASC has recited something very close to Brad's list.
I hope that helps. Anyone who wants to talk by phone is welcome to PM me.
Here's a link to the DFG's MLPA page:
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/