Area Wetlands and the Future

In response to Thomas Fortune’s letter (Nov. 20) in which he expressed regret over the “lost opportunity” of the boat harbor and navigable channel at Bolsa Chica, I suppose that is what the Donald Trumps think when they gaze out over Central Park. The fact is that public parks and beaches, especially in over-population-stressed areas like Southern California, must be inviolable.

Fortune may find the presence of a boat harbor as enjoyable as many other people find the open-ocean beach, and does not mind the trade-off; however, he would be mistaken to believe, as stated in his letter, that the Huntington Beach City Council, in opposing the harbor channel through Bolsa Chica State Beach, was bowing to the interests of “Amigos de Bolsa Chica and surfers.”

The development-minded City Council, with its ambitious undertakings for a Mediterranean-type seafront from Beach Boulevard to Golden West, was in no hurry to oppose Signal Landmark. They have been mindful of the input from their constituents, which number a lot more than just surfers and friends of Bolsa Chica; there are many thousands of beach-goers who don’t want to lose the waves or the beach, and cyclists who don’t want to lose the bike path.

Fortunately, the powers to be have begun to see the folly of a Dana Point-type development at Bolsa Chica and have realized that the public at large would not be served by such a project designed to aggrandize the special interests of a few. They know that boaters, if no permanent boat slip is available to them, have the option of trailering their craft to boat-launching facilities; surfers, when denied the waves, do not have such flexibility. Existing surf spots are already outrageously overcrowded and must not be diminished; “wave pools” at amusement parks are not viable alternatives, so unlike boaters with trailers, surfers face a finite resource. Some yachtsmen may want larger boats than can be trailered, and some people, like Fortune, may prefer a protective-harbor environment to open-ocean beaches, but those of us who want to see Bolsa Chica protected are not seeking to take something away from them as they are from us. We cannot all have everything we want; in this case, we are content with the natural facility already provided.

RUS CALISCH

San Clemente