MAILBAG - Aug. 31, 2006

Thanks, now that Bolsa meets sea

With the opening of the tidal inlet, and the reopening of the trail around the wetlands, it’s time to thank two local organizations for their efforts to preserve Bolsa Chica.

Thanks to the Amigos de Bolsa Chica, formed decades ago when the Bolsa Chica was first threatened by a commercial marina.

Thanks to the Bolsa Chica Land Trust for successfully suing the Coastal Commission in 1996 and stopping a plan that included 900 houses in the wetlands, restoration to be done by the developer over 20 to 30 years, a four-lane highway across the wetlands, removal of an environmentally sensitive habitat area on the Bolsa Chica Mesa, a navigable ocean channel and thousands of houses on the mesa.

Thanks are also due to U.S. Fish and Wildlife ecologist Jack Fancher who has worked toward this goal his entire career.

CONNIE BOARDMAN

Huntington Beach

Work not done at Bolsa Chica

Aug. 24, 2006, marked the return of direct tidal flow to the Bolsa Chica. In some ways, the $147-million, multi-year construction effort was the easy part. The hard part comes next: treating Bolsa Chica like the sensitive habitat it is, rather than as our own private playground.

People have been using Bolsa Chica as a recreational area since at least 1899, when the Bolsa Chica Gun Club was formed by a group of Los Angeles businessmen. In those days it was not bird watching that was the prime attraction, it was bird hunting. People did as they pleased, such as damming up Bolsa Chica from the ocean. To a large extent, people today still do as they please, although in too many cases they are unwittingly breaking the law.

Bolsa Chica is an “ecological reserve.” It is regulated by Title 14, Division 1, subsection 630 of the California Administrative Code. The code reads:

“Ecological reserves are established to provide protection for rare, threatened or endangered native plants, wildlife, aquatic organism and specialized terrestrial or aquatic habitat types. Public entry and use of ecological reserves shall be compatible with the primary purposes of such reserves … “

In short: Bolsa Chica is definitely not a playground.

For example, dog walking is a very popular activity at Bolsa Chica. But subsection 630 expressly forbids any pets within the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve unless they remain inside a vehicle at the parking lots. The “reserve” means the loop trail and dunes trail from the south parking lot, and the mesa trail from the north parking lot. The rest of Bolsa Chica — the Upper Wetlands area between the restored Bolsa Pocket and Graham Street — is governed by municipal code, which says dogs must be on a chain or leash no longer than six feet in length.

Yet more often than not, dog walkers at the Upper Wetlands do not use a leash at all. Such unlawfulness is unnecessary, since off-leash dogs are welcome at both Huntington Beach dog park and dog beach. The state code also expressly forbids the feeding of wildlife on any ecological reserve. Yet children innocently toss bread crumbs into the water, even though bread is not part of the birds’ natural diet. Then there are the adults who feed the coyotes. Coyotes are part of the natural food chain at Bolsa Chica. If they get their sustenance from people rather than having to hunt it themselves, the food chain is broken. Additionally, as coyotes become less afraid of humans, they are more likely to wander residential streets.

Until the restoration project fenced off the area, teens regularly carved up the Bolsa Chica to make bike jumps, although bicycles are specifically prohibited within the ecological reserve. Paint ball, another activity popular with teens in the upper wetlands eucalyptus grove, is a violation of Huntington Beach city code. The most recent disruptive behavior at Bolsa Chica is something called “hashing.” People jog for merriment, not exercise. A few months ago a group of hashers ran off the trail right through the gnatcatcher nesting area of Bolsa Chica. California Gnatcatchers are on the Federal Threatened Species list. By disturbing the birds’ habitat, these people were disregarding federal law.

The cumulative effect of all these unlawful activities is an unhealthy environment. For the restoration of Bolsa Chica to succeed, people need to obey the rules and laws protecting the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve and surrounding sensitive habitat. That means engaging in only legal activities at Bolsa Chica: walking or jogging without dogs (or with leashed dogs if you’re east of the flooded Bolsa pocket); staying on trails; bird watching; photography or painting; fishing only in the designated area of Outer Bolsa Bay; or volunteering with the Bolsa Chica Stewards on selected weekends for native plant restoration work.

Changing habits isn’t easy, but it’s for the greater good of all. State and federal officials have done their part of the restoration. It’s time to do ours.

JULIE BIXBY

Huntington Beach