Environmentalists fight for Los Cerritos Wetlands

Kris Gainey/Daily Forty-Niner Oil is what in part makes the Los Cerritos Wetlands valuable to business.

Environmentalists claim that Bixby Ranch Co., which began negotiating the sale of the 158-acre property last year, has effectively made state acquisition of the land for conservation impossible.

"They said, "If you don't buy this land, we're going to develop it,' " said Gordon Labedz, chairman of the Los Angeles and Orange County chapters of the Sierra Club.

Labedz and other environmentalists claim Bixby is asking an exorbitant price for the scenic patch of lush vegetation nestled between Westminster Avenue and Studebaker Street in Long Beach. By doing so, they claim, Bixby is preventing the California Coastal Conservancy from exercising the purchasing option that Bixby gave it last year.

Bixby held out for a price that was "outrageous, ridiculously high," said Diana Mann, chairwoman of ECO~Link, a coalition of different activist groups.

A nearby, similar piece of property that Southern California Edison sold to Island Village Property Management Group went for $34,280 an acre.

Bixby and the Conservancy will not release the details of their negotiations. However, according to Don May, president of the Los Cerritos Wetlands Task Force and of California Earth Corps, the Conservancy offered $13.7 million for the 158 acres. Based on the price the Edison land sold for, the offer should have been around $5.5 million, May said.

"They're trying to up the ante," in order to scare aware environmentalists, said Rex Frankle, president of Save All of Ballona.

In the agreement giving the Conservancy the option to buy the wetlands, Bixby had a right to back out of the deal if the Coastal Commission denied a permit to consolidate Bixby's oil wells in a five-acre area north of the wetlands, said Tim King, vice president of Bixby Ranch Co.

"The rest could have been used as wetlands," King said.

The commission denied the consolidation, and that is why Bixby says it is not selling. Bixby says it has studies that show its plan is environmentally sound.

The option to buy the land will remain valid until Dec. 30 of this year; however, Bixby vows to remain steadfast if the commission does not change its mind.

Environmentalists are trying to acquire the wetlands as soon as possible in the hope of stopping slant drilling and Bixby's newly released plan to develop on the wetlands -- a plan they believe would destroy the remaining wildlife and habitat.

"Bixby has indicated that they are a very irresponsible owner in regard to the wildlife that is out there," May said.

Bixby has submitted plans to the Long Beach Planning Department to build a residential development on the Los Cerritos wetlands, King said.

Meanwhile, efforts to acquire the wetlands continue.

"We're appealing to the commission to help find the money," said Marcia Hanscom, executive director of the Wetlands Action Network and a CSULB alumna.