A Celebration Decades in the Making

Over three dozen people joined the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority Wednesday to celebrate the purchase of 100 acres along the Seal Beach-Long Beach border known as Hellman Ranch.

Authority members, contributors and community members joined not only to celebrate the 100 acres but also to commemorate and remember the lives of two key players in the acquisition—Jeff Berger and Tom Dean—who died tragically on March 16, when Dean's twin-engine Beechcraft King Air crashed at Long Beach Airport shortly after takeoff.

“Jeff Berger and Tom Dean will be remembered and forever in our hearts,” said Gary DeLong, Long Beach councilman and chair of the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority. “And we pledge to continue what they started by working with their representatives and continuing to move forward with our plans to restore the Los Cerritos Wetlands.”

This is the third time a portion of the wetlands has been returned to public hands. In 2006, when the authority was formed, 66 acres known as the Bryant Property was purchased, and a land swap took place last year, adding 33 acres behind the MarketPlace shopping center.

“This is the largest wetlands acquisition [at Los Cerritos] to date,” DeLong said.

Sam Schuchat, executive officer of the Coastal Conservancy, said no one was ever sure this day would come. 

“Physically these properties are on both sides of the border between two counties and two cities, and none of us alone have the ability to own and manage this land,” Schuchat said. “By working together, we have now assembled enough land to do a meaningful restoration project. This takes us over the top.”

The Coastal Conservancy is part of the joint powers authority; they provided funding for the Bryant Property acquisition and are also funding the current restoration planning that is taking place.

Seal Beach Mayor Mike Levitt said Wednesday that it was important for more than just the acquisition of the wetlands. It also enables Seal Beach to expand its own ­Gum Grove Park, which will eventually connect with the Hellman Ranch property.

“This is a merging (with) a Seal Beach city park—these are two natural areas that are being integrated,” he said. “The community has wanted this for some time, and this project ensures that our kids, and future generations will be able to enjoy this area as it was intended.”

Mary Parsell, Conservation Chair of the El Dorado Audubon Society, has been fighting for this acquisition since the early 1970s. It makes her cry that this is happening because she thought the day “would never come.

“The community has wanted preservation of these wetlands for many years,” Parsell said. “Many people have been involved and without the collective effort of everyone, this day wouldn’t be possible.”

The next step, a restoration plan, which will allow Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority to develop a feasibility study with cost analysis for the restoration and enhancement of existing wetlands, will be done by Moffat and Nichol. The engineering firm was granted $225,000 in March for the project.

“It takes more time to move the paper than it takes to move the dirt. We need to go through this planning process and come out with a plan, and then the actual deconstruction process begins,” Schuchat said. But my guess is, in five years, when people come back to this area, it will be totally different and beautiful.”