State to Finalize Its Purchase of Ballona Wetlands

With no official fanfare but a great deal of excitement on the part of coastal activists, the state is poised today to complete its $139-million purchase of the Ballona Wetlands from the owner of the Playa Vista development.

The completion of the hard-fought deal, which state officials compared to closing escrow on a house, will mark the start of what promises to be a years-long, closely watched effort to plan the creation -- or re-creation -- of a stunning spot for birds, fish, butterflies and their human observers.

Activists and developers have wrangled for more than two decades over the area, which constitutes Los Angeles’ largest remaining restorable wetlands, just south of Marina del Rey.

As a result, wetlands preservationists see the conclusion of the deal -- which years ago would have seemed unlikely -- as cause for celebration.

“It’s a combination of delight and relief,” Ruth Lansford, president of the Friends of Ballona Wetlands, said in describing her reaction. “Now we can really start moving forward, and planning is the most important thing. And the planning must be led by pure science -- no dogma, no political agendas, just science.”

She was joined in that assessment by Marcia Hanscom, executive director of the Wetlands Action Network, whose group has clashed with Lansford’s over how best to restore portions of the property.

On Wednesday, Hanscom took a six-hour bicycle tour of the area with Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) and representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers. Participants, Hanscom said, felt the need to get moving, but “at the same time, we want to make sure it’s done right.”

The planning effort will be led by the California Coastal Conservancy, a state agency that is involved with efforts to restore the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Orange County and salt ponds at the southern end of San Francisco Bay.

Al Wright, executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Board, the agency that voted to buy the wetlands, said he expects planning to take three to five years. “There will be a number of opinions about how it should be put together,” Wright said, “and there will be, I’m sure, an extensive outreach process.” Wright predicted that officials will develop alternatives costing different amounts.

The state Legislature recently re-appropriated $25 million for the Coastal Conservancy to cover the costs of planning and, presumably, some restoration, Wright said.

Hanscom said she expects the Coastal Conservancy and the Army Corps of Engineers to enlist a facilitator to help figure out how to bring the best of science to the process. But she said she hopes that the agencies will agree to an interim plan “where citizens can feel they’re helping in the restoration.”

Some efforts, including dunes restoration on the western portion, are already underway.

Lansford said she foresees salt marshes and upland habitat that would complement a freshwater marsh that Playa Vista developed on the eastern edge of the area. She said some sections would lend themselves to having deeper water and fish habitat, with all portions connecting and working together as a system.

Reed Holderman, California director of the Trust for Public Land, which helped negotiate the deal, said he envisions that much of the area will be restored to full tidal action. He said he foresees interpretive trails and viewing platforms.

A key to that vision will be removing the 15 feet of soil that was dumped atop about 192 acres north of Jefferson Boulevard and west of Lincoln Boulevard while creating Marina del Rey in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The Ballona Wetlands are part of a 1,087-acre property that industrialist Howard Hughes used to build and test aircraft.

In recent decades, the area has been degraded by manufacturing, farming and dredge spoils. Yet it has managed to remain a habitat for endangered and threatened species, including the California brown pelican and the Belding’s savannah sparrow.

Although the state is buying about 192 acres from Playa Vista, the developers also have agreed to donate nearly 300 additional acres and to waive their right to buy and develop a 64-acre parcel east of Lincoln Boulevard. The package includes a stretch of the Ballona channel.

Under a previous agreement, Playa Vista will also donate 60 acres just west of Lincoln, including the freshwater marsh.