Wetlands group to obtain 45 new acres

Jenny Marder

Activists are one step closer to restoring 180 acres of salt marsh

and coastal dune habitat after an announcement last week awarding the

Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy $1.2 million in state bond

funds to purchase 45 acres of wetlands property.

The conservancy’s mission is to restore the degraded wetlands to

its natural state as a thriving habitat for plants and endangered

wildlife. They are finalizing a purchase agreement with the owner of

the 45-acre site, between the AES power plant and Brookhurst Street.

The group hopes to have the agreement signed by the end of the

week, said Gary Gorman, president of the Huntington Beach Wetlands

Conservancy.

The land is owned by the estate of the late Daisy Piccirelli.

This new development brings the conservancy one step closer to its

ultimate goal of creating the Santa Ana River Park, 180 acres of

restored wetlands along the coastline that would stretch from the

foot of the Santa Ana River to Beach Boulevard.

The purchase will also nearly double the land already held by the

conservancy, which owns 25 acres known as the Talbert Marsh and

another 22 acres near the AES power plant.

Additional funding for the land, which is valued at $1.6 million,

will come from the Earth Corps, a nonprofit organization that

specializes in environmental restoration projects.

“We’re just about down to the wire,” Gorman said. “We’re going

back and forth with our attorney and theirs.”

Gorman hopes to close escrow by the end of the month.

In addition to serving as a haven for endangered species, wetlands

provide flood protection, a nursery area for fish and a feeding and

nesting area for birds, Gorman said.

The land is a nesting habitat for the endangered Belding’s

Savannah sparrow and a foraging area for least terns, brown pelicans,

snowy egrets and herons.

“We are restoring some of the last remaining remnants of

wetlands,” said Dick Wayman, spokesman for the California Coastal

Conservancy, the state agency that administers the bond measures.

“This is land that can’t be developed, but can be restored as

excellent habitat for a variety of species.”

The conservancy is works not only to restore environmentally

sensitive habitat, but also to provide public access to the land.

“Wherever we can, we try to make sure we can open land for the

public to enjoy,” Wayman said.

To acquire the desired 180 acres, the conservancy will still need

to purchase a 17-acre plot at the corner of Brookhurst Street and

Pacific Coast Highway owned by UC Riverside, as well as seven acres

of coastal sand dunes owned by Caltrans.

“Our next step, once we acquire the parcel, is to do a

comprehensive wetlands plan,” Gorman said. “After that, we’ll go

ahead and restore it.”

Restoration, which Gorman said is still a couple of years off,

would involve reconfiguring the levy on the west side of the flood

control channel so that ocean tides could again flow through the

land, creating deep water ponds and mud flats.

‘We’re a couple of years from actually moving dirt out there,”

Gorman said. “A lot of planning and permitting still has to be done.”