SEAL BEACH : Reserve to Gain 116 Acres of Wetlands

The National Wildlife Reserve will soon gain 116 acres of restored wetlands that biologists hope will help several species of endangered birds.

The reserve, which is within the Seal Beach U.S. Naval Weapons Station, will have 900 acres of wetlands once the restoration is completed in mid-February.

The $7-million restoration is being carried out by the Port of Long Beach and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to compensate for loss of habitat they caused by filling 147 acres of ocean for a pier expansion project, said port representative Larry Purcell. It is taking about seven months to restore the wetlands, he said.

The 116 acres of new wetlands will be installed in four pockets surrounding the area’s natural wetlands, known as the Anaheim Bay marsh. The parcels will be connected to the existing wetlands through canals and culverts, which should encourage natural tidal movement within the restored wetlands area, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist Jack Fancher.

The design is considered experimental, and biologists will monitor the area to chart its success in duplicating natural conditions.

“The art or science of restoring wetlands is not well developed,” Fancher said. “Some pieces of it we’re fairly confident will have positive results. When you get into engineering design, you start to have a few doubts.”

The restoration involves moving more than a million cubic yards of dirt and provides for a number of 5-foot-tall dirt pillars that biologists hope endangered birds will use as nesting sites.

Considered one of California’s best and biggest wetlands areas, the Anaheim Bay marsh is home to five species of endangered birds: the light-footed clapper rail, Belding’s Savannah sparrow, the California brown pelican, the California least tern and the American peregrine falcon.

The area also serves as a major resting point for the 150 species of birds that migrate along the Pacific Flyway. During peak migration periods in October, January and February, biologists have counted as many as 10,000 birds on the wetlands at a time.