Volunteers Restore Flora, Uproot Interlopers

Charles Kaltenthaler claims to be a tree expert. Squatting on the dry grasses of Upper Newport Bay in Saturday sunshine, the 6-year-old picked at the roots of the young cottonwood tree that he was helping to plant.

“We’re planting trees ‘cause it gives us oxygen, and we breathe out carbon dioxide, and ‘cause they make a nice place for birds to live,” Charles said. “I climb trees all the time, but I’m not going to climb this one till it’s good and healthy.”

Charles, two friends and the friends’ father were among the 100 people who turned out Saturday for the California Wildlife Fund’s tree planting. Sponsored by a local restaurant, the event drew environmentalists young and old who came to restore native flora to the Newport Bay area.

“You can see all the (Argentine) pampas grass that’s grown up around here, and over there, the Brazilian pepper trees,” said Jim Cokas, a member of the volunteer naturalist program.

Those South American plants are not indigenous to the area, he added, and therefore are not used for food or nesting by native animals and insects.

Besides producing oxygen, Cokas said, “all they do is take up space.”

So, recruiting help from the community and from county environmental groups, Wildlife Fund officials organized the event not only to plant more than 450 sycamore, cottonwood, oak, willow and elderberry seedlings, but also so volunteers could help root out some unwanted plants, such as pepper trees and pampas.

“I’ve talked to my friends about the bay, and they say, ‘Leave it alone, why do you want to landscape it?’ ” Cokas said. “But, you know, humans have already inserted themselves into nature to such a degree that we can’t back out now.”

Much of the marsh of Upper Newport Bay is covered by the hearty pampas grass, which Wildlife Fund spokesman John Scholl said was introduced here during the 1950s, when county developers planted it at many projects. As the grasses grew and produced seeds, the plants gradually took root in Newport Bay.

Scholl said that by replacing the foreign plants with ones that naturally grow in the area, the ecological balance of the area can be slowly restored.

Sergio Avila, whose restaurant provided food for the volunteers, said he has been involved with projects to restore Newport Bay for the last several years.

“I really think of this place as a jewel, surrounded by concrete and developments,” Avila said, adding that he thinks that residents will respond as their awareness increases.

And Frieda Kinoshita, an Orange resident who belongs to the California Native Plant Society, said she is especially heartened to see the children out helping with their parents.

“At 45, I’ve seen wild areas that my children will never get a chance to see,” Kinoshita said. “I often wonder what are they going to say about us two generations from now.”

For every tree planted, Avila’s restaurant donated $5 to the Wildlife Fund. The money will go toward buying open space in California for preservation, Scholl said.