Groups seek wetland signs

Visitors to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands may encounter more rules and regulations, along with more educational material, in the near future, as a coalition of environmental groups is planning to fill the nature area with more signage.

The Bolsa Chica Conservancy, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring and preserving the wetlands, called a meeting of representatives from the state, the county and other nonprofits June 18 to discuss ideas for the new signs. The current signage on the wetlands, Executive Director Grace Adams said, is old and outdated, and newly restored areas on the wetlands are in need of interpretive panels.

“We want the next generation to care about Bolsa Chica as much as you care about it, and we want them to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner,” said Jennifer Rigby, the director of the Acorn Group, a Tustin-based firm that specializes in educational signage, which Adams enlisted to oversee the project.

The conservancy received a grant from the county several years ago to begin planning for interpretive signs. Although the state owns the property and has final say on development, Adams opted to bring together a number of local groups to give feedback. Among those involved in the project are the nonprofits Amigos de Bolsa Chica and Bolsa Chica Land Trust and several Native American tribes who have a historic tie to the land.

Implementation of the new signs may be a year or more in the future, Adams said, but by the end of Thursday’s meeting, at the Department of Fish and Game’s office by the wetlands, the groups had floated a number of ideas. Among the plans are signs informing the public about animals and their habitats, historical accounts of the wetlands and warning messages for people riding bicycles or walking dogs, both prohibited activities in most parts of the wetlands.

Jeff Stoddard, a wildlife biologist for the Department of Fish and Game, said he was most keen on informing people who use the wetlands for recreational purposes, rather than educational ones.

“All of the neighbors may not go to an interpretive center, but they may hit a panel or two,” he said.

Rigby said she hopes to have a plan sketched out in the coming weeks for what the new signs would look like. The groups’ goal is to have a uniform color and design for the signs, even though the different groups may be producing them on their own.

At present, Adams and Stoddard said, there are a handful of aged signs at four locations in the wetlands. The new signs could provide information at seven or more spots.

“There’s so much to talk about at Bolsa Chica,” she said. “This group, this community has to decide the most overarching message we want the public to carry.”