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# Gov. Gray Davis announces coastal protection plans
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/gov-gray-davis-announces-coastal-protection-plans/
- Published: 2003-08-21T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:49:36.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Environment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Governor facing recall can’t ignore GOP bid to oust him*

*By Daily Press staff*

Gov. Gray Davis announced on Wednesday that $53 million will be used to help protect and improve California’s coast.

Davis, who made the announcement at a press conference in Santa Monica, focused on coastal issues but couldn’t ignore the recall effort launched against him by the Republicans and the bid to replace him by movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“My most important job is to do the job people elected me to do,” said Davis, who acknowledged he is in a difficult predicament but said Schwarzenegger has not yet provided voters with enough specifics about how he would run California if elected.

Davis, who also announced the leasing of a new electricity plant in northern California and lauded the state for not losing power in last week’s blackout on the East Coast, said Republican proposals to balance the budget without raising taxes will jeopardize much-needed programs.

Some of the programs Davis pointed to are the Coastal Commission, in an agency that protects the coastline, as well as California’s public universities and medical programs for children. He urged voters to ask their politicians where the cuts would be made in order to balance the books.

Davis said the recall election has a thickening plot that looks like something out of a Hollywood moving and he’s expecting a surprise ending when voters go to the polls on Oct. 7.

There are more than 900 miles of coastline in California and Davis vowed to protect the coast from offshore drilling and other potentially harmful intrusions.

Davis also pointed to his successful efforts to raise more than $100 million for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, which has purchased 7,000 acres of undeveloped land.

The new $53 million in grants comes from Propositions 12, 40 and 50, which were approved by voters in the last three years.

The Wildlife Conservation Board will distribute $33 million for acquisition and restoration projects, including a $19.2 million program to help landowners, conservation organizations, counties and cities save open rangelands.

Another $20 million in grants will be distributed by the State Coastal Conservancy to protect and improve coastal wildlife habitats and farmland, improve shoreline and beach access, and revive the economies of coastal communities, according to a press release.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/082103-03_01.jpg)

Gov. (Photo: John Wood/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 21, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/082103.pdf?ref=smdp.com)