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Once part of a 165,000 acre Spanish land grant, the Bolsa Chica
presently consists of approximately 1550 acres of undeveloped
coastal wetland and adjacent upland areas. Native Americans once
lived on the upland mesas, gathering shellfish and other edibles
from the wetlands. In 1900, the tidal nature of the wetland was
essentially destroyed when the natural ocean inlet to the
wetland was closed to improve duck hunting. Since then, the area
has been used for agriculture, cattle grazing, military coastal
artillery emplacements and oil production. |
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In 1973, as part of
a controversial land swap, the State of California acquired
approximately 300 acres of wetlands adjacent to Pacific Coast
Highway. A portion of this was restored by the state in 1979 to
become the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. The remaining acreage
was retained in private hands. Planning for the construction of
a massive marina, commercial and residential development was
quickly underway. The plan was drastically reduced in 1989
through the settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Amigos.
In
1997 the state acquired 880 acres of Bolsa Chica wetlands and
another 41 acres was acquired in 2005, bringing public ownership
of the Bolsa Chica to over 1200 acres. Wetland restoration of
nearly 600 acres of Bolsa Chica was begun in 2004.
In the
summer of 2006 seawater flowed into the restored wetland for the
first time in over 100 years. The Bolsa Chica wetland
restoration was the largest coastal wetland restorations ever
undertaken in Southern California.
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Click here to view the Bolsa Chica
Timeline.
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Early Man
- Prehistory |
Photos of the Bolsa Chica Wetlands c. 1900
Bolsa Bay and sand dunes
Gun club on Bolsa Chica
Mesa
Deep in the wetlands
Boat houses on Bolsa Bay
South end of Bolsa Chica
Wetlands
Grazing sheep
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–many cogged stones
found on mesa
–some more than 8,000 years old
–no signs of wear
–use not known, perhaps religious or ceremonial |
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Gabrielenos/Tongvas
- Native Americans before the Arrival of Europeans |
–offshoot of the
Shoshone tribes
–seasonal settlements on mesa
–hunters/gatherers, food: game, fruit, nuts, seafood
–accomplished craftsmen: fine canoes
–shelter: reed and grass hemispherical huts
–clothing: skin or yucca aprons, rabbit skin capes
–reverence for nature |
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Spanish/Mexican
period 1768 – 1848 |
–Spain claiming lands in
the name of the crown
–1771 San Gabriel Mission, native laborers
–1784 vast land grant to Manuel Nieto
–1821 Mexico became independent of Spain
–1834 Missions secularized. Nieto grant divided,
Rancho Las Bolsas was given to his daughter-in-law, Catarina Ruiz:
pockets of land surrounded by marshes; to Joaquin Ruiz ,the brother
of Nieto’s daughter in law, a smaller grant: Rancho Bolsa Chica
(little pocket), later acquired by Abel Stearns
–rancho era, individual land ownership, cattle |
California
acquired after Mexican War of
1848 |
–California statehood
1850
–farming: celery, potatoes, lima beans;grazing: cattle and sheep
–1895 Gun Club bought Bolsa Chica
–1920 oil strike, land leased to Standard Oil, then Signal Oil for
drilling
–World War II artillery mounts and bunkers
–1970 Signal Oil bought land for development
–1972 The Coastal Act becomes California law
–1976 Amigos de Bolsa Chica formed to save
wetlands from development
–1979 Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve developed
–1980's 90% of California's wetlands lost to development and farming
–1997 State purchased 880 acres from Signal using mitigation credit
–2000 Public ownership now about 1200 acres
–2001 Beginning of planning process to restore 550 acres of historic
Bolsa Chica lowlands
–2004 Groundbreaking of restoration construction
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