WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1999

CSULB may acquire wetlands

By John Putman

On-Line Forty-Niner

Cal State Long Beach officials may acquire 26 acres of wetlands in Newport Beach - near property where American-Indian remains have been found - that would be utilized by the university as an outdoor-education center.

The Transportation Corridor Agencies, an Orange County bureaucracy that was charged with acquiring land for the recently built toll roads, is interested in relinquishing the wetlands.

CSULB's interest in the TCA's proposal was disclosed by Keith Polakoff, associate vice president for Academic Affairs Instructional Programs, at a March 22 meeting of the Committee on Native American Burial Remains and Cultural Patrimony. The committee advises CSULB on how to properly deal with artifacts and remains found on university property.

The land, once used as a Christmas-tree lot, is located along the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor, a toll road which runs from Newport Beach to Interstate 5 at San Juan Capistrano. The wetlands are part of 1,700 acres of property the TCA acquired to construct the controversial corridor, which was vehemently opposed by environmentalists as it cut through the sensitive Laguna Canyon Wilderness Area.

TCA officials approached CSULB because they thought the site would be ideally suited as a field research center, said Corridor Project Manager Gene Foster. Although UC Irvine is nearby, the TCA didn't think officials there would be interested because the campus already has 250 acres of saltwater marsh.

CSULB officials are seeking an endowment, which would finance the maintenance of the site, to go along with the property.

"The land has potential value if the cost to us can be offset by an endowment or grant, so that we don't have to invest any of our own funds," Polakoff said.

While the TCA believes that the request for an endowment is entirely appropriate, Polakoff does not expect an agreement to be finalized for at least another year. CSULB officials want to monitor the site to see how the vegetation will hold up during the next "really strong storm," Polakoff said.

The wetlands were actually cultivated by the agency as an environmental mitigation project, land set aside to help offset the impact of the corridor on the natural environment. The site, which also used to be an agricultural reservoir, is part of 17,000 acres of protected land that is home to endangered animals and plants.

In 1997, the TCA received a national environmental mitigation award for the project by the Federal Highway Administration.

"[The project] shows a lot of innovation," Foster said. "The wetlands are growing beyond our best expectations and we're really proud of them."

Foster, a CSULB alumnus eager to see the land exchange finalized, believes the site will be of interest to civil-engineering students, who could study the project's channel hydraulics and compost filter system.

Foster's primary concern is that the school doesn't inherit a potential liability problem. Mountain lions, rattlesnakes and other dangerous species have been spotted at or near the site.

The site has drawn interest from American Indians because the area was previously home to the Gabrielino tribe. They want to plant reeds native to the ecosystem that they can harvest for use in traditional basket weaving, Polakoff said.

"I think this represents a very important opportunity for the university to learn more about the Native communities in this area and to work with them to preserve an obviously important cultural resource," Polakoff said.

"This gives the university an opportunity to help the Native peoples preserve some land," said Troy Johnson, CSULB professor of American-Indian studies. "It'll give the anthropology department and the American-Indian studies department a chance to work with native peoples in a natural environment."

Because the site is so far away from CSULB, Johnson wants to ensure that the university will be able to protect it from vandalism.

"If we take that site we take a great deal of responsibility," Johnson said. "The last thing we want to do is to take possession of the site and then have it desecrated in some way."

Further complicating the discussions is an adjacent plot of land owned by the Irvine Company where an American-Indian burial site has been discovered. The developer has indicated that it might consider including the land in the deal, according to Polakoff. He believes that the Irvine Company might not want to retain responsibility for the site because of its controversial handling of such sites in the past.

In 1994, the developer uncovered up to 850 Native American skeletal remains while breaking ground on a Newport Coast housing project near the site. It came under fire three years later when it secretly reburied them without allowing for an appropriate spiritual ceremony.

"The [Irvine Company] certainly doesn't want to go on the record as destroying a burial site," Johnson said. "They would be condemned rather heavily, so they're being very careful and very wise."

Foster argues that the Irvine Company would receive development credits elsewhere for donating the site, which lies on coastal sage habitat adjacent to the wetlands, to a conservancy.

CSULB is no stranger to controversy when dealing with American-Indian remains and artifacts. Puvungna, on the West side of CSULB, is 22 acres of sacred American-Indian land.

About six years ago, the university scrapped a plan to build a strip mall atop Puvungna after protesters balked at the idea. The land has since been declared a national landmark, said Eugene Ruyle, CSULB anthropology professor.