Dave BrooksUnder muggy skies Saturday, dozens of...

Dave Brooks

Under muggy skies Saturday, dozens of people descended on the Bolsa

Chica mesa to participate in a restoration project to return native

plant species to the coastal wetlands.

In a little under three hours, more than 400 species of black

sage, coastal sage, California buckwheat and coastal sunflower were

dispersed throughout a four-acre stretch of the Bolsa Chica. The

event was an attempt to bring back part of the natural history of the

wetlands that had been destroyed by foreign invasive plant species.

The program was also an opportunity to familiarize the public with

the benefits of native plants.

“There used to be the thought that these were high maintenance

plants, but that’s no longer true,” said Kim Kolpin of the Bolsa

Chica Stewards, a branch of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust. “They’re

actually very easy for anyone to grow and can stay green all year.”

In the wild, native plant restoration can be helpful in bringing

back habitats for plants and animals choked out by more invasive

plants. Species like the black mustard plant and wild radish are

believed to have been brought over by European explorers and slowly

spread through the ecosystem.

Many of these foreign plants strangle out native species with

aggressive root structures that absorb disproportionate amounts of

precious nutrients. As native plants begin to diminish, so do the

habitats for insects, birds and small mammals, resulting in further

losses up the food chain.

“It really effects the entire ecosystem,” said Mike Evans of the

Tree of Life Nursery, which supplied most of the plants for

Saturday’s restoration.

State law requires that restoration on public land include only

native species, but Evans said the real battle is implementing native

species into urban and suburban development.

“It’s going to be the responsibility of planners and landscapers

in the future not to provide us with small individual landscapes, but

with untouched open spaces that reflect California’s natural

history,” he said. “The idea is to get closer to nature in our living

environment; to create areas where species can come right in and live

with us.”

With so much of Huntington Beach already developed, Evans said

city planners have to promote the use of native plants whenever it

can.

That’s easy, City Council candidate and native plant advocate

Steve Ray said, because many local species are relatively inexpensive

to maintain.

“One of the nice things about native plants is the small amount of

water they require,” he said, noting that many species accustomed to

Orange County have evolved to meet the demands of arid desert

climate.

“Once they’ve taken root, you never have to water them again,” he

said. “They can live on whatever nature provides.”

Ray and dozens of volunteers have spent about two years creating

seven separate native habitat zones at the Shipley Nature Center. The

project sits on part of the city’s central park and is just one way

Huntington Beach officials can promote native plant species.

The city also has several ordinances that encourage use of native

plants. Huntington Beach Landscaping Director Chuck Davis said that

while the city doesn’t require developers to use native species, he

can control the amount of water they are able to use. The result is

that many people turn to native plants because of their water

consumption rate.

“That’s what it’s all about, encouraging local people to actively

do their part to sustain their environment,” Evans said. “To restore

the ecosystem so that we can all live together.”

* DAVE BROOKS covers City Hall. He can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at dave.brooks@latimes.com.