Nature
Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, beside Huntington Beach, preserves coastal wetland and upland habitat for migratory and resident wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. Its history reaches back about 9,500 years to Acjachemen and Tongva habitation, then through the Spanish and Mexican rancho era and the creation of Rancho La Bolsa Chica. In 1899 a gun club dammed the wetlands from direct tidal flow, and oil extraction began in 1920; the site later held wartime coastal defenses. Preservation advanced from a 1970 reserve designation through major state land purchases and a 2006 restoration that reopened the Pacific inlet, protecting a rare remnant of Southern California marshland.
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