Naval Air Station Opens Environmental Center

The short-eared owls weren’t hooting, the mallard wasn’t squawking and the red-tailed hawk couldn’t fly.

Though mounted to wooden stands, the wildlife offered a closer view of the high-flying critters than many Ventura County residents are likely to get.

At Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station, where officers cut the ribbon on a new environmental center this week, organizers hope to share a glimpse of wildlife.

“The Navy does more than blow things up,” said Ron Barrett, the civilian coordinator of the expanded center, a hall of birds and fish that are native to the Point Mugu area.

The center, which fills the space once occupied by the base’s housing office near the main gate, is planned primarily for touring student groups, but could be open to others through the base’s public affairs office. It has moved from a smaller space nearer the beach.

Eventually, the base hopes to connect to a planned Visitors Environmental Learning Center off Pacific Coast Highway.

“There’s a lot of history here locked off to the public,” said Ron Dow, head of the base’s environmental division. “We’ve got unique sensitive [ecological] areas the public doesn’t know about.”

The area has the third-largest concentration of wetlands in the state, the protection of which offers a challenge to base leaders, said Cmdr. Tom Bersson, the public works officer for the base.