Wildlife savers get a boost -- CITY FOCUS

Bryce Alderton

For years the injured wildlife of Orange County has been rushed to

Huntington Beach, where frustrated volunteer veterinarians have done the

best they could under meager conditions.

Now, the burden of treating the often delicate wildlife in cramped and

ill-equipped conditions is near an end -- a new 1,000-square-foot

wildlife hospital is built as part of the new Wildlife Education and Care

Building behind the AES Power Plant.

The 4,200-square-foot center will replace the Wetlands and Wildlife

Care Center of Orange County, which now sits on the two-acre site at

Newland Street and Pacific Coast Highway.

Construction is expected to begin in August or September and take

about four to five months to complete, said Gary Gorman, project manager

for the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy.

The center now nurses animals such as pelicans, opossums, coyotes,

gray foxes and squirrels back to health in trailer-like buildings with

outdoor enclosures, pools and an outdoor washing area.

The project, a vision that has been in the works at the conservancy

for nearly 10 years, will be funded by a $600,000 grant from the Wildlife

Conservation Board of the California State Department of Fish and Game.

The money will be used to construct the care center, which will

feature a classroom for training volunteers and wildlife technicians, a

visitor information center and a treatment center complete with X-ray and

surgical facilities the current center does not have.

“I’m super-thrilled about getting the funding to make this a reality,”

Gorman said.

The conservancy owns and manages the care center.

“We’ve been working on this since 1993. It will greatly enhance our

operations here and with the adjoining wetlands. We’re planning on making

this an educational experience,” Gorman said.

Getting a center with expanded services for X-rays and surgery, not to

mention one that has heating, air conditioning and restrooms were the

reasons behind the push to secure grant money to build the new facility,

Gorman said.

The conservancy recently purchased 14 acres of coastal wetlands

adjacent to the care center using grant money from the California Coastal

Conservancy.

The care center, the only one of its kind in Orange County, was

originally created to care for wildlife injured by oil spills. It was

built in 1998 with settlement funds from the American Trader oil spill

that occurred off the coast of Huntington Beach in 1990.

In 2000 the center was closed for nearly a week because it lacked the

money to pay for improvements required to keep its city permit.

But after media stories reported the center’s closing, money began

streaming in, with donations finally totaling $20,000.

The $600,000 grant is the largest the conservancy has received for use

on the care center. It also has received $600,000 in grants for land

acquisition such as the recently acquired wetlands, Gorman said.

Volunteer veterinarians can treat more than 400 injured birds and

animals at one time.

“We take birds and mammals, except marine, and the occasional coyote

and opossum,” Gorman said. “Lifeguards bring birds in from the ocean.

Animals can be sick, injured or orphaned.”

* BRYCE ALDERTON is the news assistant. He can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at o7 bryce.alderton@latimes.comf7 .