OUTDOORS NOTES : Fate of Horseshoe Kelp to Be Focus of Hearing

The future of the Horseshoe Kelp--one of the most popular commercial and sportfishing sites in Southern California--might be in the balance next Wednesday.

That is when the California Coastal Commission will hold a public hearing on an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to dump unlimited amounts of dredge material at the shallow-water site known as LA-2, about two miles away.

The Horseshoe Kelp, six miles south of San Pedro, is near the edge of an offshore shelf, with depths as shallow as 330 feet. Although a deep-water site with no fishing activity is only four miles farther out, the EPA designated LA-2 as an “interim” dump site in the 1970s. It was used for disposing of an estimated 1.6 million cubic yards of sludge from the commercial Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors until the EPA proposed to make it permanent in 1988, and dumping was temporarily put on hold, pending a decision.

Studies have measured a higher level of harmful materials at LA-2 than at similar sites, and a typical dumping can cloud the water and scatter fish for hours or days, depending on currents.

There are no limits on how much material can be dumped at LA-2, and sportfishermen fear disaster if developers of the “2020” port expansion projects at the two harbors are permitted to dump what amounts to 30 million cubic yards in the next 30 years. All they ask is that the material be dumped a few miles farther out, past the shelf.

The Coastal Commission is believed to have a staff report that contains a recommendation for approval. The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday at Burton Chace Park in Marina del Rey.

Pete Bontadelli’s chances of surviving as director of the California Department of Fish and Game probably increased when Gov.-elect Pete Wilson appointed Doug Wheeler head of the state’s Resources Agency last week.

As Secretary of Resources, Wheeler will oversee departments and commissions that deal with fish and wildlife, water, forests, energy, conservation and parks. The appointment does not create a new position, although one DFG veteran said, “It almost does.”

Wheeler, 48, is a former Sierra Club executive director who also worked with farm groups and as a legislative counsel in the U.S. Department of the Interior--a person, he said, who prefers “cooperation to confrontation.” His appointment was hailed by conservation groups and perceived as granting a period of grace for Bontadelli to see if his programs can get the DFG on track.

Three of the last four incoming governors appointed new DFG directors--William Warne by Pat Brown in 1959, Charlie Fullerton by Jerry Brown in ’75 and Don Carper by George Deukmejian in ’83. In ‘67, when Ronald Reagan succeeded Pat Brown, Walter Shannon survived a party switch.

Bontadelli might benefit from the fact that Wilson is a Republican succeeding a Republican. The only other time that happened was in 1953, when Goodwin Knight retained the original DFG director, Seth Gordon, who was appointed by Earl Warren in ’51.

A recent poll also might help Bontadelli. The DFG commissioned the Charlton Research Co. of San Francisco to ask 1,000 Californians questions such as: “What is the state agency that has primary responsibility for managing fish and wildlife resources?”

In other words, the DFG has long been accused of not knowing what it was doing. Now it was asking if anybody knew what it was doing.

Forty-six percent answered the above question correctly; 47% said: “Don’t know.”

But 62% also said they thought the DFG was “effective,” as against 17% who rated it “ineffective.”

Some other responses:

--The issue of whether “hunting is a useful tool for maintaining a balance between wildlife populations and their available habitat” was split at 46% agree-disagree.

--Seventy-seven percent agreed that “fish and wildlife should be maintained even if it means higher prices for the public.”

Briefly

FISHING--Dan Michaels, manager of Crystal Creek Lodge in the Bristol Bay area of southwest Alaska, will discuss salmon and rainbow fishing Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Greg Lilly’s store in Tustin. Details: (714) 669-1006. . . . Jack Dennis, Wyoming guide, author, outfitter and fly-tyer, will hold seminars Jan. 25, from noon to 6 p.m., at the enlarged fly-fishing section of the Fishermen’s Spot in Van Nuys, and instruct in fly-tying from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Details: (818) 785-7306. . . . Jim Edmondson, regional director for CalTrout, says 43% of the 1.4 million California anglers who bought licenses last year fished for trout, but only 13,000 belong to organizations that work for conservation of the resource. Edmondson claims that CalTrout led 1990 efforts with a budget of $283,000, followed by Trout Unlimited at $100,000 and the Federation of Fly Fishers at $20,000. . . . The Bassmasters series returns to television Sunday at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on TNN, for a 39-week run.

HUNTING--The San Gabriel Valley chapter of Quail Unlimited will meet next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Marine Facility, corner of Sierra Madre Boulevard and Paloma Street in Pasadena. . . . A privately operated “Colorado Sportsman’s Hot Line,” (900) 872-2600, ext. 898, offers information to non-residents on licensing plus hunting and fishing conditions. The charge is $2 per minute, and the message each week is three to five minutes.

NOTED--Thomas M. Erwin, former Whittier-La Puente-West Covina state assemblyman whose measures created the Department of Fish and Game in 1951, died last week at 97.