April Slab of the Month: Southern Patagonia Bow

With as healthy a specimin we'll see all month, Chum lover Alex comes to the Chum with all kinds of authority.

More big shit found at Alex's Site Here

A concrete victory so to speak

Outtakes from the American Express commercial we posted last week featuring Yvon Chouinard. In this piece, Yvon talks more about the Matilija Dam (featured in the commercial) and why it should be removed.

The Cleanest Line has more info on the individuals and groups leading the fight to restore the Ventura River.

And the Winner Is.......

From Patagonia's The Cleanest Line

If you watched the Academy Awards last night you may have seen Patagonia's founder, Yvon Chouinard, appear on a commercial for the American Express Members Project, a new partnership with social-action network Takepart.com. The piece was filmed in and around Ventura County by academy award winning cinematographer Robert Richardson and directed by Scott Hicks of "Shine" fame.

The dam that's featured is the Matilija Dam, an outdated monstrosity that sits 18 miles upstream from Patagonia HQ on a tributary of the Ventura River. With its crumbling concrete and silt filled reservoir, Matilija Dam no longer serves any beneficial purpose. Its removal would allow native Southern Steelhead trout to once again use the river to spawn, and give local beaches a much needed boost in sediments (more sand) from the steep canyons of Matilija Creek.

If successful, it would be largest dam ever removed in the United States.

All proceeds that Yvon receives from the commercial will be divided between five of environmental groups of his choice: Concervacion Patagonica, Atlantic Salmon Federation, Freedom to Roam Coalition, Native Fish Society and Save our Wild Salmon.

Ka Malolo (The Flying Fish)

Patagonia Ambassadors Chris, Keith, and Dan Malloy join good friend Jeff Johnson for an outrigger adventure in Ventura, CA on February 13, 2010. - filmed & edited by Guy Martin

LINK (Via: Vimeo)

What Does the Future Hold for the Teton Watershed?

A great post from The Cleanest Line that illustrates how far we've come protecting the Teton River, what's at stake if we don't continue to protect this habitat, and how you can further help the cause.

Patagonia owners Yvon and Malinda Chouinard joined Friends of the Teton River this summer on a trip down a wild stretch of the Idaho waterway. Their trip commemorated a float the Chouinards had taken down the same stretch of river 35 years ago, before construction of the notorious Teton Dam. Unfortunately, the trip was not a celebratory one - Friends of the Teton River's Amy Verbeten explains:

LINK (Via:The Cleanest Line)

Salty sweet!

The new Patagonia surf e-catalog is full of amazing images, video, story telling and beautiful product. 

Check it out: LINK

Amount of natural resources saved?

WOOD USE – 175 tons/1,222 trees
NET ENERGY – 2,805 million BTUs
GREENHOUSE GASES – 598,206 lbs. CO2 equivalent
WASTEWATER – 1,506,301 gallons
SOLID WASTE – 220,860 lbs.