California State parks gives the green light for people to take driftwood from Seacliff State Beach with limitations

APTOS, Calif. (KION-TV)- With more rain coming to the Central Coast, California State Parks crews were working to clear out as much debris from Seacliff State Beach on Tuesday afternoon.

Most of the debris that washed ashore was driftwood.

"I see some people taking pieces. I don't see people taking huge pieces," said George Barbick who lives in Aptos.

Many community members are confused if it is okay to remove driftwood from the beach.

"I know that people are taking it," Victor Panero who lives in Santa Cruz said. "If they find a piece of wood or something, they may take it home, but I don't know their guidance about taking debris home."

Gabe McKenna who is the California State Parks Public Safety Superintendent for the Santa Cruz district said that people visiting the beach can take the debris home but there are some restrictions.

"You can take up to 50 pounds a day," McKenna said. "You can't drive onto the beach, of course, and you can't use any equipment like chainsaws or anything else that's motorized."

McKenna went on to say the large logs make up about 10% of the debris.

Those will be shipped to a different location but the smaller debris will be tossed back into the ocean.

"We're sifting through all that material and sorting it out to make sure that anything that's hazardous or deserves to be in a landfill doesn't get back on the beach," McKenna said. "So things like asphalt pressure treated, lumber, dimensional lumber, all that will go to the dump," said McKenna.

This sight is familiar to those who experienced last year's winter storms.

"Remind me a lot of last year. Yeah, it's the same thing," said Rick Locke who lives in Aptos.

McKenna said people can expect to see the red tape for the rest of the week.

California State Parks also say large swells are expected on Wednesday so they recommend staying away from Seacliff State Beach unless you're an experienced surfer.