Long-Awaited Park Opens to Public : Protesters Among Hundreds of Visitors at Laguna Coast Wilderness Area’s Dedication

As he trekked Saturday through the grasslands at Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, Paul Jones marveled at the red-winged blackbirds, the sound of bullfrogs in the lagoon and the meadow of wildflowers.

After anticipating this park for years, the Laguna Beach resident now reveled in the beauty and serenity of the coastal sage canyons.

More than two decades after it was proposed, the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park officially opened to the public Saturday with guided tours and a dedication ceremony.

Park officials said about 700 to 1,000 visitors--including some who came to protest a planned toll road through the park--arrived with binoculars, backpacks and hiking boots to take docent-led tours through nearly 3,200 acres of wildlife and vegetation habitats.

“It is just a pretty area that we’re lucky to have,” Jones said. “It has just been a fight to get this park. We’re fortunate enough to have some place to go (hiking).”

The effort to preserve this coastal greenbelt drew several thousand demonstrators from throughout Orange County to Laguna Canyon in 1989 to protest Irvine Co. plans to build homes and a golf course in the canyon.

And although environmentalists finally got to celebrate the long-awaited park Saturday, the protests were not over.

While environmentalists and elected officials spoke at the dedication ceremony, more than two dozen people held signs denouncing a planned 17.8-mile toll road that would cut through the park.

Protesters held a large banner next to the stage to show their opposition to the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor. Others stood around the seating area, held flyers above their heads and booed as the speakers mentioned the road.

Craig Beneville, member of Transportation Corridor Alternatives, helped organize the protest. He said he celebrated the park opening but did not want the park to be bisected by a toll road.

Hundreds of others wore T-shirts, buttons or black armbands to symbolize their opposition as well.

Kenneth Brunner, chairman of the Coastal Greenbelt Authority, said he was disappointed that “on a day that we celebrate some of the significant wins for the county and the state, those who haven’t chosen to make their views known at public meetings lodge their protests.”

But the one-hour ceremony, held in a grove of sycamore trees, remained undisturbed by the protests. The program featured a string quartet and speeches from elected officials and environmentalists.

Officials christened the park by releasing a hawk that Orange County park rangers had nourished back to health after it was hurt in a recent storm.

Regardless of their opinion about the toll road, many visitors came to take docent-led one-hour walks and enjoy the almost pristine area where they could view wildlife such as deer, coyote and quail.

“There really aren’t areas like this in Orange County,” said Sam Eidt, a Laguna Beach resident who came with his family. “You kind of get sick of all the development. It’s nice to see a place get preserved.”

When Eugene Lee, an engineer from Lake Forest, learned of the opening of the trails, he packed some trail mix and water and hit the park when it opened at 9 a.m.

Sylvia Oelker of Fullerton said: “I’m always so glad to see open spaces.” She took one of three tours that lead hikers through grasslands, meadows and to one of two lagoons at the park. The other one-hour walks highlight the coastal region and area of sycamore trees.

“I’ve been wanting for a long time to get a chance to see what this wilderness part looks like, “ said Wendy Huck from Irvine. “I’m really glad that we’re getting an opportunity to do that.”