Thumbs up: Champions of the Sonoma’s coast

Thumbs up for the “coastal crusaders,” the women honored this past week for their role in ongoing efforts to protect one of Sonoma County's most valuable assets - our scenic coast. They are: Doris Sloan, a retired UC Berkeley professor who joined the effort to halt construction of a nuclear power plant at the base of Bodega Head; Gaye LeBaron, who tracked developments on the coast in her history books and her columns in The Press Democrat; and Lucy Kortum, who was part of the group that sponsored the California Coastal Act, the 1972 initiative that governs development and guarantees public access to the coast.

Their triumphs were the foundation for recent milestones, including the expansion of the Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones national marine sanctuaries and establishment of the Point Arena-Stornetta Unit of the California Coastal National Monument. Sloan, LeBaron and Kortum were feted at an event marking the 35th anniversary of Coastwalk California, a nonprofit organization dedicated to completion of a 1,200-mile trail along the state's world-famous coastline. Thumbs up for that, too.

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