‘Everyone I know was stunned’

Jan Vandersloot seemed like a tireless figure in the environmental movement for years, fighting to preserve the smallest stretch of wetlands and taking his activism everywhere from state boards to parking lots, where he sold calendars at a fundraiser last month.

So when Vandersloot died unexpectedly last week at the age of 64, it came as an even bigger shock to those who had campaigned alongside him.

“I was stunned,” said Connie Boardman, a fellow member of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust. “Everyone I know was stunned. We’re just reeling from the loss. There is no one who can replace him.”

The Newport Beach resident, who worked as a dermatologist in between lobbying for his favorite causes, died at his home Nov. 4. A spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Department said the cause of death had not been determined as of Wednesday.

The co-founder of the Land Trust, an activist group that formed in 1992 to preserve Huntington Beach’s wetlands, Vandersloot was known as an enthusiastic defender of the wetlands and also a tough watchdog. Former Mayor Debbie Cook, a longtime friend and fellow environmentalist, said Vandersloot often persisted in fighting for causes that others had abandoned.

“He was just so dedicated, and he was almost unflappable,” Cook said. “He just kept plodding along. He was as persistent as a turtle, but at the same time, he accomplished so many victories that so many other people had kind of given up for dead.”

Vandersloot was an early member of the environmental preservation group Amigos de Bolsa Chica, but left to start the Land Trust when he opposed the Amigos’ support of a major housing project in and around the wetlands. In 1997, the Land Trust and other environmental groups successfully encouraged the state to buy and restore 880 acres of the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. The state added 103 acres in 2005.

Flossie Horgan, the co-founder of the Land Trust, said although a number of groups had contributed to Bolsa Chica’s preservation, Vandersloot was central to the campaign.

“None of it would have happened if Jan hadn’t been involved,” she said. “He was unrelenting. He just knew. He had a special knowledge base regarding wetlands and a special awareness.”

Vandersloot showed his tenacity on many issues over the years.

He publicly opposed the Poseidon desalination plant and the effort to erect a senior center in Huntington Central Park.

Last year, he sparked an investigation by the city, Coastal Commission, Army Corps of Engineers and Regional Water Quality Control Board when he sent photos alleging destruction of wetlands on a mobile home park.

Vandersloot’s activism also extended outside Huntington Beach.

He recently contributed money to Castaways Park in Newport Beach so it could be hydro-seeded with spring flowers.

Newport Councilwoman Nancy Gardner saw it as a fitting end to Vandersloot’s life.

“One of the last things he did will be appreciated by people long after he’s gone,” she said.

Vandersloot is survived by his wife, Cheryl, his son, Jon, and his daughter, Tiffany.

Information on funeral services was not available Wednesday.