Local effort to preserve, protect Bolsa Chica wetlands gets $2M

Efforts to preserve Huntington Beach’s Bolsa Chica wetlands were recently bolstered, when members of the nonprofit Amigos de Bolsa Chica reported they’d received a $2-million donation in honor of a former board member.

The citizen-led organization, which since 1976 has advocated for the protection of the area as a coastal ecosystem for marine life and migrating avian species, announced Sunday it had received the gift from Meredyth Stern, whose husband, Bill, was a longtime volunteer and member of the group’s board of directors since 2017.

A retired banker who split his time between Huntington Beach and a second home in Minnesota, Stern helped educate the public, lecturing on the value of the wetlands, leading tours and making sure that Amigos allocated its resources wisely. He died last year following a brief illness.

William “Bill” Stern

(Courtesy of Mel Nutter)

“Bill Stern was one of those individuals who was very much a California wetlands person,” Mel Nutter, president of Amigos de Bolsa Chica, recalled Tuesday. “It was just an important part of who he was. He was a very modest and unassuming powerhouse.”

Stern was deeply committed to the organization’s FLOW initiative, a community-based research program, held in conjunction with the California Department of Public Health and the Fish and Wildlife Department, that empowers community members to measure, analyze and document changes in water quality.

In a release issued by the organization Tuesday, Meredyth Stern explained her husband’s lifelong connection to the local marshlands and being around those who shared his passion.

“Bill loved the Bolsa Chica wetlands,” she said. “He spent many hours walking and bird watching there. He enjoyed volunteering in any way he could help, from talking to visitors on the walk bridge or picking up trash.”

Nutter, a former state and regional coastal commissioner, said Tuesday while members of the nonprofit will be carefully evaluating the most sensible and effective use of the new funds, the group has long discussed plans to establish an interpretive visitors center on the property that could serve as an educational resource on the site.

“I’d hesitate to say that’s something we’d [definitely do],” he added. “But that’s something that’s been talked about by a number of people over the years.”

One thing that’s certain is that the recent gift will be used to further the mission of Amigos de Bolsa Chica and others who’ve worked to preserve an ecological resource that continually faces threats from nearby development.

“The truth of it is, we’ve lost almost 90% of our wetlands,” Nutter said. “And with sea level rise being an issue at least some people realize is actually happening, not only do wetlands become important, but being able to protect them and respond to the changing circumstances becomes very, very important.”