CoastWatcher

On Thursday, August 24th at 6:00AM friends of the Bolsa Chica Wetlands cheered as bulldozers removed a man-made berm and allowed the Pacific Ocean waters into part of the Bolsa Chica Wetlands for the first time in more than a century. This victory and the activists who have dedicated themselves to protecting Huntington Beach’s Bolsa Chica Wetlands are proof that if you work hard, and don’t give up, you can win victories for our threatened coast.

As reported in the Los Angeles Times, more than 100 people witnessed bulldozers open a new channel to the sea for the first time since 1899 when duck hunters dammed the original channel to create ponds for easier hunting.

90% of all of California’s coastal wetlands are already gone, and Bolsa Chica’s fate had been in doubt for decades. The Bolsa Chica activists fought for years with developers looking to build luxury housing as available coastal land dwindled. Years went by and more people joined the fight to protect these fragile wetlands until finally, funds were raised to buy the land and the tide began to turn.

I want to offer my personal thanks and gratitude, not only to the dedicated activists of the Bolsa Chica wetlands but to activists everywhere who believe that by working together we can protect California’s great coastal places.