Natural Perspectives -- Vic Leipzig and Lou Murray

Vic Leipzig and Lou Murray

The Bolsa Chica wetlands still are not restored, Bolsa Mesa still

isn’t developed, there is still no park on Huntington Mesa and the paths

around the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve still are crumbling into the

lagoon with no hope of repair in sight. The AES plant is still ugly and

still spewing pollutants into the air. Our sewers are still in sad shape

and we still don’t know the cause of the bacterial contamination of our

beaches. In some ways, things in Huntington Beach are the same at the

beginning of this year as they were at the beginning of last year and the

year before that and the year before that.

But there has been some progress, at least, in a few areas. Only two

more hearings stand in the way of the construction phase of restoration

for the back Bolsa wetlands. The salt flats now languish in a

semi-functional degraded state, but we hope to see them restored to a

fully functioning, fully tidal wetland sometime before we’re ready for a

nursing home. Maybe restoration will begin as early as 2003.

Hopes are high that an extensive buffer system will be established on

the Bolsa Chica mesa, with development limited to the upper mesa. Of

course, some environmentalists are hoping to save the entire mesa, and

the developers would rather develop it all, but saving the lower mesa for

parks and wildlife would be a reasonable outcome. Hearthside Homes wasn’t

pleased with this decision by the Coastal Commission and sued. Perhaps

2002 will see this issue resolved also.

As for the crumbling Bolsa Chica infrastructure, there’s not likely to

be much progress on that front in the upcoming year. When we talked to

California Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist Brian Shelton,

he informed us that he has only $5,000 in his annual maintenance budget

to cover the four ecological reserves that are under his care. There is

not much that he is able to do. The Bolsa Chica needs a massive infusion

of money to repave the parking lot, rebuild the walk bridge and redo the

trail system. One quarter of $5,000, a mere $1,250, isn’t going to cut

it.

Orange County seems to be getting the short end of the stick when it

comes to allocation of state funds for maintenance of its resources. The

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve is heavily used by the public and deserves

far better treatment than what it gets. The needs of the reserve far

outweigh the ability of Fish and Game to provide for it. We understand

that they have funding problems. There has been a statewide decline in

fishing and hunting with a concomitant decline in the revenues these

activities provide to the Fish and Game coffers through licensing fees.

At the same time, there has been an increase in the use of urbanized

ecological reserves such as the Bolsa Chica by bird watchers. Perhaps

it’s time to think of a different way to finance the upkeep of these

sadly neglected urban and suburban preserves.

Bulldozers are clearing land near Talbert Avenue and Gothard Street

for the new youth sports complex. We hope that the landscaping for that

facility will be selected to provide additional wildlife habitat. Of

course, whenever open fields are exchanged for buildings, parking lot,

and manicured playing fields, habitat for some species is lost. In the

short term, the vultures benefit as they feast on the rodents and lizards

that die during construction. In the long term, red-tailed hawks and

white-tailed kites lose the hunting territory provided by open fields.

However, some shorebirds are able to use sports playing fields for

foraging after heavy rains, so it won’t be a total loss to the

environment, assuming the fields aren’t sprayed with lots of chemicals. A

few trees planted around the buildings and parking lot would also provide

a habitat for some songbirds.

In good news this past year, we saw an urban forest take root in

Huntington Beach Central Park north of Ellis Avenue between Goldenwest

and Edwards streets. The new trees will provide more varied habitat for

many birds, especially migrating songbirds. In other good news, Orange

County completed several important flood control diversion projects.

During the summer months, water from the Talbert Channel system will be

diverted to the sewage treatment plant. This is designed to improve water

quality in the ocean by preventing urban runoff from reaching our beaches

during the summer.

So the past year, like most, has been a mix of good and bad. But

mostly, we see maintenance of the status quo. The problems we had at the

beginning of the year are still with us. But each new year brings hope of

a better tomorrow. In particular, we look forward to approvals for the

next stages in the Bolsa Chica restoration project. That will be the best

news for the environment in many years.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at o7 [email protected] .