Nature Center to reopen part-time

Jenny Marder

Volunteers are working long hours to restore the Shipley Nature

Center to a vestige of its former natural splendor by September when

it will open part time offering tours for children and the community.

When the city yanked the center’s funding five months ago, gave

away all the animals and padlocked the gate, many looked to the

volunteers to keep the center running.

While that has not been possible, the Friends of the Shipley

Nature Center, an organization committed to restoring the center, has

been working nonstop to return the closed nature park to a thriving

sanctuary and to bring back tours, educational programs and nature

walks for children. The volunteer group has jumped from 40 members to

700 in four months, said Stephanie Pacheco, president of the Friends

of the Shipley Nature Center.

On the first Saturday of every month, anywhere from 12 to 60

volunteers show up to breathe life into the old center by working to

restore the land to its natural state.

“I’ve been involved with a lot of projects in this town and this

has been one of the greatest involvements that I’ve seen,” said

former Mayor and Councilwoman Shirley Dettloff. “We have this

wonderful opportunity, we have this wonderful resource and if we

don’t get in there, we might lose it.”

On April 13, the gates will reopen for a fund-raising bird walk

led by bird expert Lena Hayashi, followed by a picnic on May 17 with

restoration tours and a nature walk for children.

“[Guides] will talk to the children about subjects appropriate to

their grade level and age level,” Pacheco said. “They will also talk

about restoration, why it looks how it looks and why we’re doing what

we’re doing. And since it’s in an urban area, it gives us an

opportunity to talk about urban educational issues.”

In addition to restoration, the goal of the nonprofit group is to

continue expanding educational programs for both children and the

community.

“The number one goal is restoration,” Dettloff said. “Coupled with

that, is educating the public on what a great resource they have,

what they can do about saving it and their role in accomplishing

that.”

The Shipley Nature Center is an 18-acre natural landscape with

4,000 feet of trails that weave through oak woodlands, Torrey pine

trees, meadows and ponds. A freshwater wetland is located on the

premises.

The center is a haven for insects, reptiles and birds, and is home

to three endangered bird species. The grounds also feature an

interpretive building with exhibits on local wildlife and ecology.

Faced with budget woes, the City Council closed the center, which

cost $116, 955 a year to run in October of 2002, despite a protests

from residents and environmentalists who considered the site one of

Surf City’s local treasures.

The center used to attract 40,000 visitors a year, many of them

children, who would take tours to learn about nature and visit the

center’s wildlife refuge which included foxes, raccoons, snakes and

lizards.

The massive restoration project underway at the center could take

as long as 10 years, Pacheco said. The project include restoring the

area with 50,000 California native plants and removing vegetation

that depletes groundwater, crowds out native plants and presents a

fire risk. A freshwater stream will be created to provide circulation

for Blackbird Pond and fresh water for the area’s wildlife. Trails

will be upgraded, an irrigation system installed and the building

will get a much needed face-lift, Pacheco said.

“They’re definitely needed improvements,” Pacheco said.

These improvements may be necessary, but they’re not cheap.

Restoration will cost $680,000, and funds are hard to come by

Pacheco said. The Center has applied for five grants that include the

Metropolitan Water District, the Southern California Wetlands

Recovery Project, the Boeing Employees Community Fund and the city.

In December, Shipley Nature Center gained nonprofit status, which

allows it to receive tax-exempt donations and apply for grants.

And opening the center, though it is the ultimate goal, is still a

pipe dream, she said.

“It may be years and years before it opens,” Pacheco said, adding

that there is no funding yet for employing someone full-time, a

requirement for reopening the center. But Pacheco said she is

confident that the center would one day be back in full swing.

“People like ‘the Friends’ will make sure we establish a real

program out there,” Dettloff said. “I see the same success there that

we’re seeing in the Bolsa Chica.”