The Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority (LCWA) will host the first public workshop for the next phase of restoration planning for Los Cerritos Wetlands at 6: 00pm on March 28 at the Mary Wilson Library in Seal Beach.
This workshop will build on the previous work completed for the Conceptual Restoration Plan and will culminate in a Program Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
This Program EIR is the next step in the LCWA’s efforts to provide a comprehensive restoration framework for the Los Cerritos Wetlands. Past work completed by the LCWA includes identification of existing opportunities and constraints for restoration, public access and interpretation, and the Los Cerritos Wetlands Conceptual Restoration Plan (LCW CRP). The Final LCW CRP was adopted by the LCWA Board of Directors in August 2015.
Using information contained in the Final LCW CRP, this current exercise will design an optimized restoration design for the entire Los Cerritos Wetlands complex. This alternative will be studied, and potential impacts analyzed in the Program EIR.
Attend this workshop to learn and share your knowledge about this exciting process toward restoring the Los Cerritos Wetlands. This workshop is about wetlands and community, so be sure to invite your friends and neighbors.
Beginning at 6 p.m., the LCWA’s consulting team, spearheaded by Environmental Science Associates (ESA), will lead the public through a workshop intended to provide a refresher of previous efforts and an overview of the steps ahead.
The Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority is a joint powers authority composed of the City of Seal Beach, the City of Long Beach, the State Coastal Conservancy and the Lower Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers and Mountains Conservancy. The ESA consulting team is composed of Altman Environmental Consulting and Coastal Restoration Consultants.
Winter is on it’s way out and spring is on it’s way in. It’s a great time to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Join us and our partners, biologists and environmental educators from the environmental consulting firm Tidal Influence, on a wonderful hike at Los Cerritos Wetlands on Saturday, April 7th
Our walk will begin with a brief orientation to our wetlands. We will stroll through heritage coastal sage scrub and historic dredge spoils, while looking for raptors (birds of prey) and a number of other species that nest in the area. As we pass the salt flats, we may see tiger beetles and coyote tracks before hiking up to the Heron Pointe Cultural trail to discuss how tidal circulation shapes our local wetlands.
We will complete our walk by heading back along the access to the parking. Bring binoculars, if you have them; we will observe many different kinds of interesting wildlife.
WHAT: Raptor Ramble on the Hellman Portion of Los Cerritos Wetlands.
WHEN: Saturday, April 7th, 2018, at 8: 00 am sharp! Parking lot gate will open at 7: 45 am and close at 8: 10 am. No late-comers can be admitted for the tour, and all participants must stay for the entire tour, which will end by 10: 00 am.
Early Los Angeles wetlands provided a vast expanse of critical habitat, now lost forever because coastal Southern California grew and developed in the early 20th century as a place to live. All of this development happened many years before the public and our leaders realized the value of wetlands and the need to protect them. I’m happy to say that the tide seems to be turning and here locally, the shift towards supporting, protecting and restoring Los Cerritos Wetlands has truly been remarkable. We couldn’t do it without you, and for that we say “thank you”!
Perhaps the restoration of our local wetlands isn’t happening as fast as we would like but it is happening, and some day Los Cerritos Wetlands will be a fully restored and high functioning wetlands complex that will serve as a great resource for the community and fragile species alike.
We know we can’t bring back most the historic wetlands of Los Angeles County but we can help make those that remain robust and viable, not only for ourselves but also for future generations to enjoy.
This fascinating Los Angeles Times article about the imperiled wetlands of California (complete with time lapse modeling) summarizes the tough spot so many of our Southern California wetlands find themselves in. Hemmed in on one side by immovable infrastructure like buildings and roads and on the other by increasingly higher and higher levels of sea level rise, the future of our wetlands is uncertain. Here in Long Beach we are about to start the next phase of comprehensive restoration planning for Los Cerritos Wetlands. Issues like how best to plan for sea level rise and how best to protect existing not-going-anywhere-infrastructure will make this planning exercise particularly challenging.
Video of our local sea turtles provided by the Aquarium of the Pacific. See the turtles for yourself on Saturday, March 3rd.
On Saturday, March 3rd, you are invited to join us for a free 2-hour guided wetlands nature walk, led by naturalists from the environmental consulting group Tidal Influence. We will look for wildlife sightings, learn about our rich ecosystems, reflect on history, and see current restoration activities.
Our walk begins with a brief orientation to our wetlands. We will discuss their history and see an important portion of them, including the Pumpkin Patch property, as we walk along the San Gabriel River to view the sea turtles. On our return, we will stop at Zedler Marsh, where there is a nursery for wetlands plants and where restoration is in process. We will then walk on the levee back to our meeting place. Bring binoculars, if you have them; besides the turtles, we will observe many different kinds of interesting wildlife.
Meet and park in the driveway at the intersection of 1st street and PCH in Seal Beach. Our walk starts at 8:00 a.m., and the parking lot gate closes at 8:15 a.m. No latecomers can be admitted. Events are family friendly, but strollers are not permitted, and all participants need to be able to walk a couple of miles (slowly) without having to turn back. Close-toed shoes are required, and please bring sunscreen and water. Rain cancels. For more information or to rsvp, email elizabeth@lcwlandtrust.org.
P.S. After our nature walk, you are invited to join in and help the community-based restoration of Los Cerritos Wetlands, which takes place from 10:30 am -12:30 pm the first Saturday of every month. Participants are eligible to win prizes such as a T-shirt or tickets to the Aquarium of the Pacific. Meet at the same place we meet for our nature walks. For further information about the restoration activities email iwanttohelp@tidalinfluence.com.
