Supes Grant Lease for Bolsa Chica Wetlands Education Center

The Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a lease Tuesday with the Bolsa Chica Conservancy for an 8,000-square-foot interpretive center at the Bolsa Chica wetlands. Gardens, classrooms, science laboratories, multipurpose exhibit halls and bird and wildlife viewing decks are included in the included in the plans the private nonprofit has on the 5.3 acres of land at Harriet M. Wieder Regional Park it is leasing from the county.

Conservancy officials say they will raise private funding for the facilities that are adjacent to a 4-acre playground. County plans call for trails linking the resource with Bolsa Chica State Beach and Huntington Beach Central Park.

Mark Gaughan, chairman of the conservancy's board of directors, said the interpretive center will "showcase this ecological jewel in the heart of the city of Huntington Beach."