News Scrapbook 1969-1971

CONSERVATIONISTS VS. LAND OWNERS M""w.. r 1~197 Fate of Coastal Lagoo s Stirs Fight Ed tor, Notr,, For tho nterested 111 pr rvot1011 of the v ronment, the late ol the county's <00110/ lagoons ond watery ,n/ u 1s ol pr s111g concern This ort1de, first cl two, examines some of th prob/ems nvo/ved. "It ls the non:esident that l~ spearheading the objections," he said. State Biologist Says Potential Great

~? ,~,, View Of Comet , Now learer, Say ~SD Aide The :v1 w oL Abe's Comet. recen • discovered and named by a Japanese astronomer, is becoming clearer o er the San Diego area each nfght. accord- ing to Rudolph M. Lippert, pro- fessor emeritus of astronmy at the University of San Diego's College for Women. He said the cornet. which may be viewed with ordinary binocu- lars between 9 p.m. and. mid- night, is located about 30 de- grees west of the North Star "Last Friday I I watched the comet for two hours and within the first hour it had already shifted its position." said Lip- pert. "This one is really trav- eling fast." He added that Abe's Comet is currently in constellation Drago but is headed for Hercules and Coma Bernics. The comet was first dis· covered July 8. It has no tail but may be noticed by its movement and looks like a "fuzzy blob of light," according to Lippert. "Although it may be seen from within the city," said Lip- pert, "I would advise people to go five to ten miles out of town to really view it...

Ronald Hein. b1ologbt for the ·tate Department of Fish and Game, said, ·we don't know if there is a way to prevent the de~tructrnn of the e bodies of water. '"There 1s no Fair way of asking an ol'.ner to preserve his land for \\ildlife purposes. The potential for developing estuaries and lag:>0ns into resort area~ is great." He said every development along the coast. whether on public or private land, carries with it the possibility of permanent damage. The county wetland areas are alive, above and below the wa- ter, with one of the most productive systems of plant and ani• mal life in the world. Long-billed egrets and herons feed on the fish and bottom lile a lloating birds alight to rest and feed. If a marsh opens to an estuary. it becomes part of a larger y ·tern that upports beds of shellfish. a spa,\ning ground and nursery for Ocean fish and a source of supply for their food. Even when the marsh feeds to the less active waters of a lag.ion, it is still valuable to migratory birds along the Pacific flyway and shore birds. Migratory Birds Heed Rich Nutrients 'Below the surface," Hein said, ''waters are rich nutrients that are most critical for the e migratory birds. They provide us w1_th i:n area where we can study ecology and watch the adaptions of some specie_ and extinction of others." The wetlands also produce plankton and marine animals that provide food supplies for higher animal forms. Wheeler J. ·orth, professor of environmental health engineer- Ing al _the Califorma Ins~tute of Technology. said the outlook for estuarian environments 1s gloomy indeed. '·Develupers are scrambling to profit from high prices bay front prol)E!rties command. One can hardly blame them. Gov- ernment officials are eagerly cooperating in elaborate plans for rap:ng what remains of our estuaries. "One cannot olame the government ... it is responding to the need of the m'ljority electorate. It is clear that drastic action ml1st be taken to preserve the natural estuarine situations re-- roaming in Southern California." 4 of 6 Bay Estuaries How Biological Deserts At the turn of the century there were six bay estuaries in the Southland suffi~iently large to harbor significant numbers of fish, Nortb said. None remain in their original condition. •'Four of tbe six bays, San Diego, Mission, Huntington Harbor and Los Angeles, are biological deserts throughout much or all of thejr extent," , ·orth said. "The remaining two, Morro Bay and ewport Harbor, support varying abundances of marine life." S. Bradshaw rofessOr of biolo a niversit San Diego, avs e ag ns an estuanes lying e we Jolla and vceariside are in great danger . "These potentially productive and esthetically pleasing meet- mg. places of ,P,a and fresh water. appear to be doomed to extmctJon by the bulldozer, the dredge and various forms of min-induced pollution," Bradshaw said. He rect>mmends that a Southern California Estuarine Devel- opment Commission be established to set guidelines based on thorough studies to provide the entire Southland with an orderly approach to rec:ify;ng o[ the wetland problem. Most conserv1tiooists believe some form of control is needed for these areas Toward this end, the state assembJy app ed a (Cont. on Page B-3, Col. i)

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• n crvation1 ts argu that the coa ta! lagoons must be pre• s n d n wtldl re sanctuaries for the many hundreds of differ• enl bird and marine life that exist 111 the e \\etland areas. fb y say developers are laying plans that wHI do irreversible

harm to th ~e almost forgotten \\ Id:. Developers Demand Lawful Rights D velopcrs

y they own the land and hould be allo\\ed to

it's part of the American tradition.

do what In y w1nt -

Tn mo. t c11 s :>roperl} taxes on the land have been paid for years, th y say, and now a vocal minority wants to preve~t th m from their lawful rights. County planning offic1als concede that area surrounding cna tal l-1~oons have been zoned for development of single fam- 1h re 1d ice· for yPars and developers are now being told they car.not pr, d with their plans. Bcmmn wartt:.:. a B verly Hills attorney and half owner of San r:lijo l,agoon call it "an interesting situation." ''Certain pr sures are being applied to governmental ofii• c1a 1 to ad m a d ·~ ious manner in regards to these lagoons. I call 1t bad government," he aid. :>\\artti said !Jc has O\\ned San Elijo Lagoon for 10 years and ''tY.o d vcloper~ have backed out of propo,ed deal, because the Bo3rd of . uperv1 ·ors has held me up for two years. It is a shockm m1 u c c,f the public process." Sup visor havn prevented him from developing his land, Swartt,: said. by nrit 1 ,umg him a permit to proceed \\ith plans for the an a E,1rh~r th1 month. the board voted to put a 7 million bond ssce on the . ov. 3 ballot for the acquisition of open space and more particularly for the purchase of San Elijo Lagoon. Supervisor Amazed af Price Difference Countv admi11i lrator Fred Morey aid preliminary negotia- tion with th lagoon's owners, Swarttz and United California Ba11k, md1cate the land will cost .4 million. But Supervi or DeGraff Au,tin said he was amazed al the d1fferenc • betw •n the owner. ' asking price and its listed fair market value.

FA TE OF COASTAL LAGOONS STIRS BATTLE IN COUNTY CONTINUED FROM PAGE B·l i!/./'{. "JO bill, by As mblyman Pete Wilson, R-San Diego. to place fu- ture developme t o the c< a tline under state and local control. Senate Killed Bill Without Hearing The bill. co idered by some conservationists as the weakest of several coastline protection measures introduced during the 1970 session, was killed without a hearing in the Senate. Assembly opponents claimed it was both too weak and too tough: In general. the legislation would have provided for coordmated planmng for an area extending 1,000 yards inland and three miles out to sea between Oregon and the :\lexican border. .\II t.he other biHs had been either killed or pigeonholed before rece1vmg action m the lower house. Wilson's bill had the backing of_ Li. GG\'. Ed R I eke and the California Advisory Com- m1~s_1on on ~farme aIJd Coastal Resoilfces, but not Gov. Reagan. Wilson ~.aid he would introduce the bill again next year, but in ~he meantime m~11y coastal_ values _would be destroyed by de- ~elopment. He said local zonmg was madequate protection. Currently. there is no comprehensive statewide planning of coastal developrnent. Wilson's bill would have provided some gmnance to the problem. Area Lacks Plan for Shoreline, Wetlands :\fany believe San Diego County has the most valuable and beautiful reach of coastline in California, but even on a local level there is no master plan for the shoreline and wetlands. Last Ff:bruary, supervisors, recognizing the need for such a master plan, approved hiring a pnvate consullant to determine what sho1,ld be inc:luded in a plan for the county's coastal la• goons. The con~ultant hasn't been hired yet, officials say, because data 1s b~mg gathered to determine what areas should be con- sidered by the con~l!ltant 1f, indeed, a consultant is needed. It may turn out, officials say, that county planners could handle the project. ut most developers ay that their plans for the areas would onl enhance the lagoons and that they are not setting out to destroy the wethnds.

Lippert said the comet will re- main visible for the rest of the month. It is now about 102 mil- lion miles from the sun and will pass behind the sun by the middle of October, he said.

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