When you think of great Surfrider Foundation campaigns, the Save Trestles victory comes to mind, and maybe some creative Ramones and Grateful Dead parody t-shirts. A few years back, when the California Transportation Corridor Agency made a push to install a toll road alongside California Highway 5 through the California State Parks in San Onofre (you know it as Uppers, Lowers, Church and Cottons) they were denied.

JoliWait ... I thought we saved Trestles already?

The toll road would have been a 16-mile, six-lane superhighway through the park to extend Rt. 241. The pristine area is a protected natural habitat of several species, cultural site of the Acjachemen tribe of Native Americans and also hosts over 2 million visitors each year.

Plus, as you know, the mouth of the San Mateo creek is the pinnacle of performance surfing and home to the ASP World Tour's Hurley Pro at Trestles and Nike 6.0 Lowers Prime events. Basically, it's one of the best surf spots in the world. But unlike some spots that share that title, it's one that we can all ride. Hell, it can make a guy from Burbank (or even New Jersey) feel like Jordy Smith. Had the TCA got its way, that experience could be forever ruined and beach access hampered.

So, the Surfrider Foundation went to work, tour competitors lent their celebrity to the cause, we all signed petitions, and the surf industry provided literal busses full of support at hearings. The government heard the people and shut down the TCA's smarmy push in 2008. Case closed. We won.

Not by a long shot. The TCA has come back for more. Did you think it was that simple?

"We totally anticipated this," says Steve Long, San Onofre Foundation Senior Advisor and father of global big wave chargers Rusty and Greg Long, "This is part of the reason the San O Foundation came into existence. When all the good will and support began to dissipate, we need to have a vehicle for keeping an eye on the situation."

The gridlock hasn't disappeared. And with some 25 years invested in this struggle, the TCA is still interested in building that toll road. The fight is far from over.

JoliKelly Slater had a few people glued to Lowers last week when he won the Hurley Pro.

To give some background, the State Parks department has the land on lease from the military (the Dept. of the Navy to be specific) until 2021. The TCA has deep pockets and has been lobbying the Department of Defense to end that lease early, so they can go ahead with plans.There's more at stake. Developers are awaiting approval for 16,000 homes, which would be contingent on the toll road.

Recently, the TCA has started its own campaign, citing that the toll road construction would create 13,663 jobs in Orange County and 3,800 jobs elsewhere in California. These numbers are the result of an independent study by Beacon Economic., who was comissioned by the TCA.

In a recent TCA Press Release, the agency quoted Christopher Thornton of Beacon as saying, "This project will generate additional tax revenues in Orange County and throughout the rest of the state. Our models estimate $121 million in tax revenue will go to state and local government between now and the completion of the project. In sum, this project will have a significant impact on the local and statewide economy."

Ouch. They know where to hit. The economy topic is the hotter than Justin Bieber right now -- one that we are all deeply affected by. This is a multi-billion dollar project. But the Surfrider Foundation contends that the TCA is hell-bent on building this toll road. Just like Bieber, the toll road isn't going away.

Long is very passionate about different options to the toll road.

"The economic argument is a strong one," he admits, "This is not a simple valley. It's a world treasure. Do you desecrate your treasure for economic interests? It needs to be treated with respect and I hope we can have those discussions. There is a lot we can do to create jobs."

The Foundation has spent years discussing tunnels, scaled down projects, alternate routes to the east of Highway 5, and other low-impact solutions, all of which, he adds, will create jobs. The parks themselves are huge economic engines.

"When you lose that influx of people coming to parks, you lose millions and millions in sales tax revenue and jobs that are already in place. Those losses far outweigh the short term jobs that last a year or two," says Jim Kempton, the CEO of the San O Foundation.

SaveTrestles.orgThe toll road hasn't gone away. The fight to save Trestles is still on.

He knows people will still be able to access the park (the most popular in California) but asks who's going to pay to take a family camping under a freeway. And without those dollars and those spent in the surrounding town, an integral revenue stream also dries up.

"We've already seen it in Mendocino and the Russian River. The economies of the communities around them have been crushed," he adds.

The Foundation is working with Surfrider. Long says they are staying vigilant and looking forward to rational discussion.

But as surfers who live for Lowers lefts or surf fans enthralled with Kelly's pocket pokes, be aware, the bell has rung and the next round in the fight to save Trestles is on.