We are proud participants in Long Beach Gives: Please donate now!

We are proud participants in Long Beach Gives: Please donate now!

We envision the day when all of Los Cerritos Wetlands is a protected resource for the wildlife and the community.
Help us reach that goal by donating during Long Beach Gives early giving period.
Dear Friend of Los Cerritos Wetlands,


I am happy to report to you that we have wrapped up a summer of fun and educational field trips (in partnership with Long Beach Parks and Recreation and Marine), where we hosted kids from 13 urban parks who participate in Long Beach’s Be S.A.F.E. (Summer Activities in a Friendly Environment) program. Local neighborhoods are supported by extended evening hours of free supervision at designated parks by employing neighborhood youth. Some of the enriching activities offered through Be S.A.F.E. include arts and crafts, outdoor games, sports, science activities, computer labs, and fun field trips to places like the Los Cerritos Wetlands.


In addition to hosting fun field trips, our work defending undeveloped, and therefore rare, coastal open space requires community support, and we are so appreciative of all of those who have joined our fight to protect Los Cerritos Wetlands.  


Supporting the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust helps to ensure the protection, preservation, and restoration of our unique and vital local wetlands habitat. Additionally, with help from supporters such as you, we will continue to educate students in Long Beach and Orange County public schools about wetlands. Providing them with tours and lessons to foster a connection to nature and each other, helps bring classroom concepts to life. 


Your donation, large or small, will make a difference and help move the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust closer to our fundraising goal. 


Please don’t wait. Donate now.


Please follow the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust on Facebook and Instagram, visit our website, and forward this email to your friends and family to get the word out. We appreciate your support! 


Sincerely,


Elizabeth Lambe
Executive Director
Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust


P.S. Check out this charming thank-you note from one of our young field trip participants.
Thanks to all who made a phone call or sent an email to protect the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)

Thanks to all who made a phone call or sent an email to protect the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)

For decades the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has protected our environment. Legislation that will forever weaken that law passed yesterday, but we won’t give up.
I am sad to report that the California Legislature passed, and the Governor subsequently signed into law, a budget bill that contains provisions that fundamentally weaken CEQA. The only positive aspect of the legislation is a promise to introduce a “clean-up” bill to address some of the worst aspects. What that means exactly, I’m not sure, but as I learn more, I will share the details with you.


Click here to read a really good summary of what happened, according to CalMatters (an excellent website for tracking the latest news from Sacramento).


What is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)? CEQA is (was?) a bedrock California environmental protection law that requires, among other things, that before a proposed development can be approved, the impacts of that development be analyzed and reported in the form of an Environmental Impact Report. Sounds simple because it is, but you can see how special interests, who seek to exploit our environment, wouldn’t want that kind of review and oversight.


A couple of important things to note.


1) Although there was an effort to remove the requirement of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) from proposed development review, that important provision remains. For more than half a century, the rule has been that if there’s a fair argument that environmental damage may occur, an EIR must be prepared. State Senator Scott Wiener initially sought to reverse the presumption, requiring EIR advocates to prove that an EIR was necessary, but he dropped that provision to expedite the bill’s passage.


2) Developments near (or in) the Los Cerritos Wetlands will remain subject to the oversight of the California Coastal Commission and adhere to the laws of the Coastal Act, thus allowing our local and fragile Los Cerritos Wetlands some additional protections.


Nevertheless, we are sad that it will be easier to exploit vulnerable habitats throughout the state, including coastal habitats, oak woodlands, chaparral, forests, desert vistas, and grasslands, without any environmental review or mitigation. We are sad that vulnerable communities will be more likely to be exposed to toxic industrial projects with little to no protections for those living alongside industrially zoned land. Shockingly, the bill provides no guardrails to protect against the worst health and safety impacts on residents and school children in these areas.


I thank all of you who made a phone call or sent an email to those legislators who represent us. Community support for the protection of Los Cerritos Wetlands inspires and sustains me.


Stay tuned; there will be more to come, and I will keep you informed. In the meantime, have a safe and sustainable 4th of July holiday. And join us on the July 5th nature walk, if you can. Details are below.


Sincerely,


Elizabeth Lambe
Executive Director
Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust


P.S. It’s not too late to contact your legislator and voice your opinion to ensure that
SB 131’s clean-up amendments will result in meaningful improvements to the bill. The amendments are being drafted now. Ask them to commit to addressing the aspects of the bill that pose significant harm to communities and the environment. That’s all you need to say! 


Your legislator’s contact information can be found at https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov. 
Attend our Raptor Ramble nature walks before they are paused due to the restoration of the Southern Los Cerritos Wetlands.

Attend our Raptor Ramble nature walks before they are paused due to the restoration of the Southern Los Cerritos Wetlands.

Raptor Ramble/Southern Los Cerritos Wetlands Nature Walk.


Join us on Saturday, July 5 or August 2 to learn about the upcoming restoration of Southern Los Cerritos Wetlands and the important raptor habitat.
 
These special tours will be led by knowledgeable ecologists who helped design the Southern Los Cerritos Wetlands restoration project, which is expected to break ground in Fall 2025. Our curated Raptor Ramble tours are the public’s final opportunity to view this land before the restoration begins. Tour attendees will learn about plans for hydrological connections, earth moving, public access, and large-scale plantings of native habitats while observing the current condition of the land. In addition to learning about the restoration design details, participants will look for raptors (birds of prey) and other charismatic species that forage and nest in the area. Participants will likely see rare bird species that will benefit from the improved habitat. The final portion of the tour will spend time along the Heron Pointe Cultural Trail, where attendees will learn about the native people who lived on the land, how they utilized its resources, and how the Tribal Advisory Group and local Native American tribal members contributed to the restoration’s final design.
 
Our walk leaders possess extensive knowledge about the restoration project, site history, and local wildlife. Bring binoculars if you have them; we will observe many fascinating species. Don’t miss this opportunity to access this land before the restoration project begins!


To learn more or to sign up for one or more of the upcoming nature walks,
use this link.
Our letter to the City detailing the impacts they should study regarding a new development proposed near Los Cerritos Wetlands.

Our letter to the City detailing the impacts they should study regarding a new development proposed near Los Cerritos Wetlands.

Arial view of the current tank farm property located at 6701 E 2nd Street.
The proposed project site encompasses approximately 53 acres.
A new development is being proposed for the soon-to-be former tank farm located at 6701 E 2nd Street and Studebaker Road. While I am glad the ugly and toxic storage tanks are being removed, the question is what should replace them in that spot to balance landowner needs while protecting the nearby fragile Los Cerritos Wetlands ecosystem. As you can see in the image above, the proposed Sares Regis Group’s “Sea Ranch” development would be situated in a particularly environmentally sensitive location that straddles the Los Cerritos Wetlands and the San Gabriel River.

Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), environmental projects are analyzed through the production of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The first step in that process is a Notice of Preparation (NOP), which the City circulated in early May.
Of course, with such a large project proposed for such a sensitive ecological area, the City of Long Beach must conduct a thorough analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the proposed project. We have submitted our thoughts to the City, which you can read here.
Wrapping up another great year of field trips to Los Cerritos Wetlands for Title 1 schools.

Wrapping up another great year of field trips to Los Cerritos Wetlands for Title 1 schools.

Students learning about wetland entomology by participating in a bug hunt
(fake bugs, not real ones!) out at Los Cerritos Wetlands.
Thanks to the generosity of the AES Corporation, the Port of Long Beach, the California Coastal Conservancy, Long Beach Parks Rec, and Marine, the Adams Legacy Foundation, and the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority, we have hosted a record number of field trips this year for students who attend Title 1 schools.


We love hosting these enthusiastic scholars whose grades range from 2nd through 5th (and sometimes a bit older). Not only are the students bright and inquisitive, but you can see they enjoy the rich learning experience provided by our colleagues from Tidal Influence. The students enjoy a truly hands-on learning experience: hunting for bugs (fake bugs, of course) to learn about wetlands entomology, making a mud ball full of seeds that they hurl into the wetlands (thus adding seeds to the area which helps grow wetlands plants), and making a plant press of a wetlands plant (part of a wetlands botany lesson) that they take home.


With the school year wrapping up, we are turning our eyes towards field trips for students who participate in Long Beach’s Park and Rec program that provides summer activities for youth in our City’s urban parks. We love those kids too and can’t believe we have been hosting those field trips for over 10 years!


It’s all part of our philosophy and values…..that access to the natural world should be available to all, not just those who have the resources to travel and visit exotic natural areas. Shouldn’t we all do what we can to create a more just and equitable society?
Los Cerritos Wetlands is, and should be, a resource not only for fragile and threatened species but for the human population of Long Beach as well. We are making progress, and that is worth celebrating.


Cheers to our funders and cheers to you for supporting the protection and preservation of Los Cerritos Wetlands. We couldn’t do it without you; we appreciate you.
Students learning about wetlands ecology at the Los Cerritos Wetlands
Zedler Marsh outdoor classroom