HUNTINGTON BEACH : City Selected to Host Wildlife Conference

The city has been selected to host the fifth annual National Watchable Wildlife Conference in November, 1996.

More than 600 people are expected to attend the conference, said Diane Baker, president of Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau.

Baker said holding the conference here is significant because it will focus on Orange County’s environmental attractions and create an awareness of the county’s natural resources.

“We hope to make this part of California a focus of ecotourism,” Baker said.

Huntington Beach, for instance, has almost 300 species of birds that come to town during the winter, she said.

“People come from all over the world to see those birds,” Baker said.

Moreover, Baker said, the conference will be at a time when business is at its lowest.

“It will be a shot in the arm business-wise for Huntington Beach,” she said.

The city won bidding to hold the conference through a team effort including Baker; Bob Garrison, a state Department of Fish and Game official; Jeanne Clark, a wildlife author; Peter Green, board chairman of the Conference and Visitors Bureau and newly elected councilman, and Phil Smith, director of Bolsa Chica Conservancy.

The Waterfront Hilton Beach Resort has been selected as the hotel headquarters and meeting site. Other properties within the city also will be used, Baker said.