‘An amazing sight to see’

A number of dignitaries came out for the event, but it was 9-year-old Madison Makoff who had the honor of cutting the ribbon at the grand opening of the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve’s public access bridge Thursday morning.

Madison, clutching a pair of red handled scissors with a handful of the people who made the bridge possible behind her, struggled to cut through the green and white ribbons as the crowd waited.

“Nothing in Bolsa Chica is easy,” Paul Arms, the president of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, told the crowd.

Those involved with the project told stories of budget gaps, missing permits to transport the bridge from Arizona and bad weather that led to further delays, but after nearly a decade, the $550,000 pedestrian bridge was officially opened after construction ended in February.

It has been a long process, but the bridge is one of the biggest accomplishments in the history of Bolsa Chica, said Tom Livengood, planning commissioner and former president of the Amigos de Bolsa Chica.

The bridge connects the mesa to the Bolsa Chica Conservancy parking lot on Warner Avenue and was necessary for public safety, officials said.

The nearly 25,000 visitors and students who ventured to the mesa each year had to stumble along a path, climb over a guard rail and edge away from speeding traffic along Warner to get the trails, but not anymore. Visitors can now safely visit the ecological reserve, said Jennifer Robins, president of the Amigos de Bolsa Chica.

Madison was the first person to make a donation to the bridge in 2007 when the project hit a $75,000 budget gap. The Bolsa Chica Land Trust launched a “Walk to the Wildside” campaign to try to fill the gap, and Madison made the first contribution.

“She’s a real inspiration to us all. She set the bar and demonstrated leadership,” Arms said.

Only 7 years old at the time, Madison asked her friends to donate to the campaign instead of giving her a gift. She first visited the mesa after her older brother Dillon had a field trip there. She said the mesa is “an amazing sight to see” and liked the animals, especially the egret.

The Land Trust, along with the Amigos de Bolsa Chica and Bolsa Chica Conservancy, came together with the Department of Fish, Wildlife Conservation Board and the county to make the bridge a reality.

“This wasn’t a one-organization project,” said John Donnelly, executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Board. “There were hundreds of people involved.”