Wetlands Deed Signed, Sealed and Faxed

The Bolsa Chica wetlands passed into public ownership early Friday morning with the clinching of a historic $91-million deal to preserve and protect one of the most famous stretches of coastline in Southern California.

But many who have suffered disappointments in the past over failed bids to save the Bolsa Chica wetlands from development waited to celebrate until they could see with their own eyes the stamped deed, confirming that the famed property is now owned by the state.

Copies of the deed--stamped at 9:27 a.m. on Valentine’s Day in the clerk-recorder’s office here--were faxed to Sacramento, Los Angeles, Portland, Ore., San Francisco, Carlsbad, Calif., and Washington.

“All I can say is, ‘Hallelujah,’ ” said Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, chairman of the State Lands Commission, which now owns the 880 acres of ecologically fragile wetlands next to Huntington Beach.

Some noted a certain symbolism that the sale--coming after decades of dueling between conservationists and developers, with government agencies joining the fray on one side or the other--should occur on Valentine’s Day.

“It’s kind of a sweet deal for future generations of Californians,” said State Controller Kathleen Connell, the Lands Commission member who made a last-minute, handwritten amendment to the deal, paving the way for a Wednesday vote by the commission even though several necessary signatures were still missing from the contract. She praised the deal for establishing “a new paradigm for bringing together diverse perspectives.”

And U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt issued a statement from his Washington office, hailing the state’s acquisition of oceanfront land that had been slated for a major residential development, a project now canceled.

“The restoration of one of the last fragments of California’s vanishing southern coastal wetlands offers precious habitat and a future to bird and aquatic species now in serious peril,” Babbitt said.

The transfer from private to public ownership occurred after the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach wired a total of $25 million to a Santa Ana title company, and the money was then transferred to seller Koll Real Estate Group.

In all, the ports are contributing nearly $80 million for Bolsa’s purchase and restoration, and in return have obtained permission to build over marine habitat in expansion projects in both port cities.

Koll closed its offices at 1 p.m. Friday for a party at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach.

“Ultimately, for a simple deal, it was a very complicated process, and we’re delighted that so many good people were involved to make it happen,” a jubilant Koll Senior Vice President Lucy Dunn said. The company still plans 2,400 homes on a mesa north of the wetlands.

For some, seeing copies of the stamped deed culminated years of struggle--often frustrating, sometimes seemingly futile--to try to preserve the wetlands.

“That means the end of the war, that’s what it means to me,” said Jack Fancher, assistant field supervisor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who has worked since 1977 to save Bolsa Chica.

“The fun part begins now--cleanup and restoration,” Fancher said Friday afternoon. “In 20 years, we weren’t able to achieve any restoration at all.

“Now, we can. The door is wide open now.”