EDITORIAL

Because of potential environmental harms and to preserve equestrian

trails, some said at first it shouldn’t be done.

Then, because of residents’ opposition, it seemed like it wouldn’t be

done.

And finally, after the project was underway, because of planning snags

and weather problems, it looked as if it couldn’t be done.

But last weekend -- after a few years of conceptualizing, more years

of planning and a long wait for the construction process, the Peter and

Mary Muth Interpretive Center in Upper Newport Bay opened.

The multimillion-dollar county facility, which boasts 10,000 square

feet of Back Bay education, is a venue for the public to interact with

nature without treading upon it. The center represents a fairly new idea

that has arisen out of a conflict between providing access to

environmentally sensitive areas while protecting those very areas from

the public.

As local conservationists have pointed out, several of Newport’s gems

-- the Back Bay, the pristine coast, the tide pools -- are not only being

destroyed by urban runoff, but they are being loved to death.

But, as the new nature center demonstrates, there is a solution to

that.

Tucked away in a hillside, the building built into the earth features

many close-ups of the ecosystem. The exhibits allow people, both children

and adults, to experience the Back Bay without hurting it. The center

offers to “interpret” nature, providing the explanations behind the

beauty of the bay.

Oddly enough, there were concerns in the early 90s that the center’s

construction could add to the sure and steady slip into overdevelopment.

Some residents, mostly from Santa Ana Heights, were worried that their

way of life would be disrupted by the project. Some opponents carried the

banner of environmental activism, saying that making room for the center

would mean driving away rare birds and ruining the habitat.

Those voices of dissent are quieter now. And perhaps some of them have

changed their tune and are now singing praises of the county’s

interpretive center.

We certainly are.