Long Beach officials on Tuesday announced a land swap with a developer that would preserve 175 acres of hotly contested urban salt marsh, some of the last remnants of a once vibrant wetland at the mouth of the San Gabriel River.
Under terms of the deal, 52 acres of city-owned land would be traded for acreage lying in the heart of the Los Cerritos Wetlands. The city would then sell the marsh to the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority for about $25 million.
The city would use the proceeds to acquire and develop about 20 acres of property a few miles to the west along the Los Angeles River for recreational space.
"Once completed, this will place the largest privately owned coastal marsh into the public trust," Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster said in a prepared statement. "Los Cerritos is the final piece needed to complete more than a decade-long effort to restore Southern California's vanishing coastal wetlands."
The land swap is the latest in a series of efforts to preserve wetlands that were once a thriving part of Southern California's coastal ecosystem. Two years ago, as part of a $147-million restoration project, barriers were removed to reconnect portions of the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Orange County with the ocean; populations of fish and shorebirds have exploded.
The Los Cerritos is already home to a variety of bird species. Flanked by supermarkets, movie theaters, motels and power plants, the wetlands remain a critical link along the migratory bird route called the Pacific Flyway, which birds travel from North America to South America.
Dismissed by some as a weedy oil field, the wetlands sustain a surprisingly vibrant ecology. Burrowing tiger beetles thrive on its salt flats, and brackish ponds edged with saltwort and pickle weed are rife with horn snails and minnows. Osprey feast on fish, and coyotes prey on rodents.
Rejuvenating the area bordered by Pacific Coast Highway, Studebaker Road and the Los Cerritos Channel would cost millions of dollars. But city officials hope to see the effort partially bankrolled by the Port of Long Beach as mitigation for expansion projects elsewhere in the city.
"Right now, it looks very poor, but it has the potential to be a real jewel," said Long Beach City Councilman Gary DeLong, chairman of the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority. "After the first year, we plan to launch a complete restoration of a total of 350 acres. It will involve removal of nonnative vegetation and allow for surges of tidal flooding."
