This caught my eye from the Saturday edition of the Orange County Register:

riday, April 20, 2007
Environmentalist takes on developer
After five years of taking photography of wildlife at a natural habitat
around the Bolsa Chica Wetlands area, Mark Bixby is now persona non grata to
developer.
BY CINDY CARCAMO
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

HUNTINGTON BEACH His weapons of choice are a hat to block the sun and a
backpack full of camera gear.

Mark Bixby – a Huntington Beach computer engineer, "Star Trek" fan and
environmental activist – may not possess laser pistols for battle, but his
documentation of wildlife has helped those who oppose the construction of up
to 170 homes near the Bolsa Chica Wetlands.

For the past five years, the 48-year-old has thrown on his safari-like
threads to trudge a 50-acre swath of land known as Parkside. He listens. He
gawks at the sky. And he shoots pictures of creatures and vegetation with
names that are hard to spell and that most people don't know about.

Bixby had unlimited access to the land owned by Brea-based Shea Homes. Now,
in the latest twist in the decades-long battle, Bixby said he's been
banished from it less than a month before the Parkside development goes
before the California Coastal Commission.

Shea representatives see Bixby as a nuisance who they've tolerated until
now. The photos and memos he's shot off to Coastal Commission officials are
unscientific, they say. And they say he has helped stall the project for
long enough.

"I take it as a compliment," Bixby said of becoming persona non grata.
"They're clearly threatened by what I've done so far."

Bixby isn't banished, said Shea spokesman Laer Pearce, but has simply worn
out his welcome. Shea is demanding that Bixby ask permission before he steps
onto the property. If he gets the OK, one of the developer's scientists
would have to accompany him.

"(Bixby) pulls out data to suit his purpose but doesn't look at the data as
a whole," Pearce said. "He's not a scientist. He's a computer engineer."

Shea wants the site to become Parkside Estates, a community with up to 170
homes just west of a neighborhood of 349 homes that's under construction.
The Coastal Commission is set to vote on the project at its May 10 hearing
in San Pedro. The City Council has approved the project.

The property, on the northeastern border of the Bolsa Chica Wetlands between
a flood-control channel and neighborhoods, is considered the last chapter in
the Bolsa Chica Wetlands battle.

Bixby, a latecomer to the fight, wasn't much of an activist until he moved
in 1999 to Huntington Beach, a short walk from Parkside.

Two years later, he read a flier on his doorknob about a meeting held by
Bolsa Chica Land Trust representatives. He's now a member.

Soon Bixby was sending e-mails to experts and government officials. He
researched wetlands species. Now he devotes most of his days to the
computer, scanning paper documents into digital formats and keeping his
followers, called "Parksiders," abreast of the newest via an e-mail newsletter.

He's spent more than 1,000 hours capturing stills of the 120 birds and 40
species of wetland vegetation that he said live on the land and should keep
houses at bay.

Coastal Commission staff members have recommended that the commission deny
Shea's proposal, saying it calls for building homes on wetlands. They
suggested alternatives that would require Shea to set aside more land as
open space, especially around a eucalyptus grove they say is an
environmentally sensitive habitat for several species of birds of prey.

Bixby's documentation helped the Coastal Commission determine its
recommendations, said John Dixon, a commission ecologist.

When emotions run high, pictures are sometimes the best way to prove a
point, Dixon said.

"Objective data like photography you can use," Dixon said. "There's no
emotion there."

Shea disagrees with the commission and Bixby about how much of the property
is coastal wetlands. The developer says its plan carves out enough open space.

"He's just throwing up a smoke screen of questions, and the project becomes
delayed," Pearce said about Bixby.

Shea did environmental studies of the area and said the delays keep
neighbors from enjoying benefits of the project, such as sewer and
flood-control improvements that will bring about 7,000 nearby homes out of
federal flood zones.

Shea is not targeting just Bixby but also all other interlopers, Pearce
said. No-trespassing signs were posted, but most have been removed.

People walk unleashed dogs. Transients pitch tents. Even a group of
paint-ball enthusiasts and kids on BMX bikes have left their marks.

Fencing off the area has been considered, but Pearce said the developer
would first have to go through a long permit process with the Coastal
Commission.

Regardless of Shea's warning, Bixby said he'll continue his weekly trek to
the property.

"All I'm doing is taking pictures and leaving footprints," he said.

Contact the writer: 714-445-6688 or [log in to unmask] 

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