Purchase - Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust

These are, indeed, historic times. Our singular voice advocating the purchase of an irreplaceable coastal resource and the need to invest in California's future is gaining more support and acceptance in our communities.

Our members' ongoing patronage has been essential in these gains and in reaching a wider audience for our message to bring back the health of the wetlands and "purchase, connect and protect" the wondrous web of life in Long Beach, Seal Beach and the San Gabriel River Watershed.

When Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust was first formed, it was our overriding ambition to purchase all of the Los Cerritos Wetlands in order to preserve them and restore them. We set forth our dreams and desires in this space entitled "Purchase". The Los Cerritos Wetlands are located on privately held lands owned by Bixby Ranch Co., Bryant Trust and Hellman Ranch Co. Efforts to purchase can involve complex negotiations among many parties.

Since that time, things have changed. In February 2006, a joint powers agreement was adopted to form the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority ("LCWA") lcwetlands.org. This "JPA" consists of four members: (1) City of Long Beach, (2) City of Seal Beach, (3) Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (“RMC”), and (4) California Coastal Conservancy.

The City of Long Beach is represented by Third District Council member, Gary DeLong, who chairs the meetings. The City of Seal Beach is replacing its representative (John Larson is no longer serving due to health problems). “The purpose of the LCWA is to provide for a comprehensive program of acquisition, protection, conservation, restoration, maintenance and operation, and environmental enhancement of the Los Cerritos Wetlands area consistent with the goals of flood protection, habitat protection and restoration, and improved water supply, water quality, groundwater recharge and water conservation.” Because the LCWA’s stated goals are the same as our goals, during its formation, Don May was tireless in his efforts to have Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust named as a member of the LCWA. To our profound disappointment, Don’s efforts were unsuccessful.

Not long after its formation, the LCWA was involved in the purchase of 66 acres on the Bryant property. This was accomplished with the help of a $7 million grant from the California Coastal Conservancy and additional funds from Signal Hill Petroleum, which obtained the mineral rights. A celebration for the acquisition of the first parcel in the Los Cerritos Wetlands for planned restoration was held at the Long Beach Yacht Club on August 1, 2006 with city dignitaries, state dignitaries and environmentalists of every stripe in attendance. The Trust for Public Land partnered with the Coastal Conservancy for the purchase and their news release about the purchase can be found at: www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=20791&folder_id=266.

The California Coastal Conservancy considers the Los Cerritos Wetlands a priority for purchase and restoration and assists in getting funding to acquire wetlands. Before formation of the LWCA, it was involved in negotiations to purchase the Hellman Ranch property on the south side of the San Gabriel River in Seal Beach. It continues in these efforts as part of the LWCA. These negotiations have been ongoing for the last few years.

While the Bixby land was for sale when we first proposed purchasing all of Los Cerritos Wetlands, Bixby took it off the market when oil prices started to rise. The status of the ownership of this land was in question for many months and Bixby denied the property was for sale or was being marketed for sale. In November, 2007, we learned that Bixby sold all of its land to the developer who also owns the land for the proposed Home Depot on Studebaker Avenue at Loynes Drive. The LCWA hopes to purchase this acreage from the new property owner.

Today, we find ourselves active on many fronts: (1) Coastal Commission appeal and CEQA lawsuit regarding the proposed Home Depot site at Studebaker and Loynes; (2) monitoring Seaport Marina; (3) revision of SEADIP (Southeast Area Development and Improvement Plan); (4) stopping and reporting habitat destruction and dumping on the Los Cerritos Wetlands. For more details on these matters, please see “News” on our News & Events page.

There are many individuals and agencies that want to purchase, protect and restore the Los Cerritos Wetlands. We support all of these efforts and offer our assistance at every turn, including speaking engagements, attendance at agency meetings and City Council meetings, tabling, educating and keeping watch for violations of the Coastal Act, the Local Coastal Program and SEADIP. The Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust Conceptual Restoration Plan completed by Moffatt & Nichol in 2005 remains our vision for restoration and is summarized in the “Protect” section. In addition, we have proposed funding the required biological study of the Bryant 66 acres.

While our focus on purchase has changed due to the events discussed here, your support of the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust remains essential to the work of purchasing, protecting and restoring the Los Cerritos Wetlands. It is still our goal to see the wetlands transformed into a place of great beauty, inviting exploration, discovery and appreciation and where wildlife will thrive in this unique sanctuary. Where abundant migrating birds will fill the air. And where our diverse estuaries will be reconnected with the Southern California ecosystem, enhancing the entire region's natural prosperity.

Functioning wetlands are a good economic investment: they increase surrounding property values, foster tourism and greatly enhance the health of near-shore fisheries, particularly for recreational use. Reviving the Los Cerritos Wetlands will provide greater long-term economic value than any other potential use.

A study appearing in NATURE (5-15-97) found that the annual value of ecosystem services is 1.8 times the world's gross domestic product and that estuaries are the most valuable type of coastal ecosystem. On average, a single hectare (2.47 acres) of wetlands produces goods and services worth up to $20,000 annually. The economic loss of Southern California's vanished wetlands can only be estimated in diminished fisheries, the rising tide of inner city asthmatics and the lack of recreational and open land resources.

We also have the lessons of Hurricane Katrina to teach us the undisputed value of wetlands.

Since the Los Cerritos Wetlands contain sites sacred to the Native American Tongva Nation, restoring them will also conserve both aesthetic and cultural values.

Today the Los Cerritos Wetlands is a stretch of tidal channel surrounded by dredge-and-fill.

But at its center is a small pristine ecosystem that will serve as the springboard for a complete restoration.