Amigos De Bolsa Chica
An interview with Jim Robins
Jim Robins is an active board member of the Amigos De Bolsa Chica as well as a board member of the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center. He has been active in helping to protect the Bolsa Chica wetlands for many years. Jim Robins is one of the many people we can thank for having the wetlands that we do have. Please get involved and donate to the Amigos De Bolsa Chica.
Why did Amigos De Bolsa Chica form?
It was founded in the 1970s by the league of women voters to help preserve the wetlands in the Bolsa Chica area. The area was going to be developed and another marina was planned. They would have created a jetty and the wetlands would have been stores and homes along with the planned marina.
In 1976, 300 to 327 acres were purchased and restoration project was started. There were large sand dune areas in the Bolsa Chica wetlands. A small section of the sand dunes is left. Restoration of the dunes began. Over the years ice plants took over and the small sand dune area is again being restored with native plants, sand verbena and yellow bells being planted. The sand dune area is along Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and stretches from just before the parking lot area on PCH to just past the floodgates next to PCH about a 2 to 3 mile stretch. It is not vary wide maybe about 30 feet or so at the widest section.
Some of the other restoration projects have been much larger. The largest restoration project is letting the coastal waters flow into the back area of the wetlands. This enlarges the water area of Bolsa Chica. This area was blocked off many years ago by the Hunting club that once owned the land. They blocked the water way to improve duck hunting. When oil was found the land was leased to oil companies to extract the oil. Huntington Beach, California was the 7th largest oil producing area in the US many years ago. There are still many oil rigs in operation at the wetlands, off shore and surrounding areas. As some of these oil rigs were retired this made the restoration of allowing ocean waters back into the area possible. The project was finished last year.
In 1991 – 1992 part of the upper mesa was trade and the lower mesa was persevered by the Bolsa Chica Land trust. The upper mesa was developed and hundreds of houses were built. Part of the land is now back in controversy. There were over 130 bodies found. This indeed was an ancient burial ground for Native Americans. The Native Americans are having a hard time getting information or anything from the land developers.
The coastal commission bought approximately 880 acres from the oil companies using mitigation credit. From this the large restoration project was underway and ground breaking began in 2004. The work was completed in 2006. This is still the largest restoration of wetlands in the state of California.
There are only 5% to 10% of the wetlands left in the state of California. Organizations such as the Amigos De Bolsa Chica lack the funds to purchase lands back. When land is purchased back the cost to restore the wetlands can be very high. For instance the restoration project of the Bolsa Chica wetlands that allows water back into the wetlands cost millions of dollars.
The southern California coastal area is part of what is called the Pacific Fly Way. It is used by millions of migratory birds every year. The destruction of the wetlands has caused ¾ of the birds to find other areas for rest and feeding during their migration. I cannot say what this has done to populations of species or anything else. I at this point in time have not found any information.
Amigos De Bolsa Chica continues to educate people of the importance of the wetlands. They use scientific evidence to support their findings and to gain grants to continue their acquisition of land.
Article by Melinda Sargent Nature Photography with a Purpose
Some questions I still have are:
How can we get the money to buy land to restore the wetlands?
How can we help the migratory birds (we clearly have caused millions of birds to find rest and food hundreds of miles off their normal route and what is this doing to the populations)?
What can the public do to help?