HUNTINGTON BEACH : Plans for Wildlife Facility Revealed

Plans were unveiled Monday for a wildlife care facility and visitors’ information center proposed for a 2-acre site at Southern California Edison’s Huntington Beach Generating Station.

The facility, planned for a narrow strip of land along Pacific Coast Highway at Newland Street, would be operated by the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy, a nonprofit group dedicated to restoring and maintaining wildlife habitats in the city other than the vast Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.

The center would provide medical treatment for injured birds, fish and other wildlife frequenting wetlands and other habitats throughout Southern California. It also would provide permanent shelter for animals which, due to physical limitations or lack of adequate habitat, are not able to live in the wild.

If approved by the County Board of Supervisors, it would be the only facility between the Greater Los Angeles Zoo and Sea World in San Diego dedicated to the care of wild animals, said Gary Gorman, the conservancy’s executive director.

The visitors’ viewing area and interpretive center would offer information to the public on area wetlands and wildlife, and what can be done to protect them. If the center opens as scheduled next spring, it is expected to attract between 5,000 and 6,000 visitors each year, officials said.

The county board will consider approving the joint center today as part of Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder’s proposal to develop a comprehensive plan for the county’s existing and planned wildlife habitats.

The proposed wildlife facility and visitors’ area is the result of two years of negotiations between Edison, county officials and the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy.

Under the agreement, the county would lease the property from Edison for five years at $400 per year. The county, in turn, would issue a license for the facility to the wetlands conservancy.

The center would be built, maintained and operated with money and supplies collected from private donors or acquired through public grants, Gorman said.

Edison currently leases the 2-acre, unpaved site to the city of Huntington Beach as an annex for beach parking. The company earns only “a minimal sum” in revenue from the property, said Jerry J. Dominguez, Edison’s local area manager.

Dominguez said the firm is essentially donating the land for the project, as the company plans to issue a stipend to offset the $400 annual lease payment.

The most challenging hurdle for the center will be raising money for operating costs, Gorman said. The conservancy is working to establish a $2-million corporate endowment fund, which would provide about $150,000 in interest each year--enough to run the center, he said.

Gorman and Wieder both emphasized that they hope the facility, by attracting donors, volunteers and other resources to the area, will spur efforts to advance planned wildlife projects throughout the county’s northwestern coastal region.

The center’s site is next to 85 acres considered to be “degraded” wetlands and targeted for restoration. But plans for a renewed wetlands have been sluggish because the properties are held by several different owners, including the state Department of Transportation, Edison and other private landowners.

Other major habitat restoration plans include another 41 acres of degraded wetlands northwest of the Edison plant and the 180-acre Fairview/Talbert Regional Park. The county recently received a $1.3-million state grant for the regional park, to be located along the east side of the Santa Ana River extending north from 19th Street.

Wieder said she is confident that such planned projects can be completed more quickly by creating a comprehensive countywide plan for expanding existing habitats and creating new sites.