After a twenty-three year battle, the Surfrider Foundation has announced that the famed surf break at Ma’alaea has been saved.

The victory came when the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and the United States Army Corp of Engineers announced last week that they would be abandoning plans to extend the breakwater at Ma’alaea Harbor. The Surfrider Foundation and other groups have long opposed the project for fear that it would destroy large sections of coral reef and irreparably damage the nearby surf break. The break, also known as Freight Trains, is widely lauded as the world’s fastest wave.

The victory is a landmark win for the Surfrider Foundation, who first began their work to block the project in 1990.

“Even before there was a Maui Chapter, Surfrider Foundation campaigned to save the world-class wave at Ma’alaea,” says Stuart Coleman, Hawaii Coordinator for the Foundation.

Over the years, Surfrider Foundation has logged countless hours of community outreach, attended hearings, legal filings and even commissioned an independent review of the Army Corps of Engineers plans for the project.

“This win is up there alongside our victory at Trestles in terms of importance,” says Surfrider Foundation CEO Jim Moriarty. “Protecting our world’s surfing resources is at the very core of what we do.”

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