Wetlands Proposal Headline All Wet

* The Times does the public a disservice with the headline attached to the Aug. 30 article about the Bolsa Chica wetlands restoration project: “Re-Creation vs. Recreation. Views Are Split on Allowing Waves Back Into Wetlands.” This was needlessly divisive and inflammatory, especially at this stage of project consideration. The agencies proposing Bolsa Chica wetland restoration have spent the last year and a half conducting state-of-the-art engineering and environmental evaluations in a good-faith effort to fully address the issues and concerns identified when we began the process through public workshops and a public hearing.

We have now presented all that work to the public in the form of the draft environmental impact report for review and comment. The draft convincingly reveals a project alternative that would not pit Re-Creationists against Recreationists. However, it may also reveal alternatives that are disagreeable to one party or another for one reason or another. Each individual or organization needs to evaluate the document in order to decide on the “best” alternative. The decision regarding which alternative to implement, or whether to proceed at all, is expected in the first quarter of 2001, not now.

Pitting people against each other is not what the process is about. The process is about making good decisions based upon the best available science and credible analysis and facts. It would be inappropriate for anyone to have made up their mind before even having viewed the draft, not to mention identifying some other interest as an opponent or enemy.

JACK M. FANCHER

Bolsa Chica project manager

Fish and Wildlife Service