Below are Frequently Asked Questions regarding the Los Cerritos Wetlands Fund. Click on the down arrow to reveal the answer to the listed question. Click on the up arrow to close the answer.
Who We Are
The mission of the Los Cerritos Wetlands Fund is to support projects related to the Los Cerritos Wetlands that strive to:
- Conserve, manage, restore, and enhance wetland and upland habitat, and facilitate environmental planning, permitting and public access;
- Advance healthy communities, social equity and climate resiliency and adaptation; and
- Provide educational and research opportunities.
The Fund will pursue its mission by fundraising and dispersing those funds primarily through grants. Grants recipients will then effect the Fund’s mission through their sponsored work. The Fund does not expect to directly implement projects other than through holding workshops to inform the public regarding grant funding opportunities and fundraising-related programming. Grants are made available through an annual competitive grant cycle.
The Fund was formed in 2019 in the State of California. The Fund was created by conservationists, landowners, and businesses committed to long-term future of Los Cerritos Wetlands and surrounding watersheds.
The Founders led the creation of the Fund because they believe that this unique and treasured landscape is worth preserving for current and future generations. The Founders recognized that existing financial resources were drastically insufficient to fund even the most basic preservation needs and an organized, directed effort was vital to fund the full range of programs and projects needed to maintain this prized resource. The Founders, who provided seed funding to launch the Fund, include: Los Cerritos Wetland Land Trust, Synergy Oil & Gas, LLC, AES and The Trust for Public Land.
Restoration Plans
The Los Cerritos Wetlands Restoration project is a plan to restore and preserve the remaining 500 acres of the original 2,400 acres of the Los Cerritos Wetlands which straddles the border of Long Beach and Seal Beach at the end of the San Gabriel River Watershed. What remains today are degraded tidal and non-tidal salt marsh habitats behind levees and weedy uplands where the tidal marshes were filled and segmented in the last 120 years.
This ambitious restoration project requires large amounts of funding and years to complete, but the opportunity is unique and the benefits for residents are many: a thriving landscape of marine and wildlife, open skies and wide horizons, fresh air and clean water, a center of calm in the midst of urban noise and visual blight, and protection against global warming and sea level rise.
In May 2021, the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority approved and adopted the Habitat Restoration Plan for the entire 500 acres of wetlands. Restoration will take place over time as private properties become available to the public.
View the Los Cerritos Wetlands Restoration Plan. (24MB PDF)
The LCWA-owned properties are the current focus of restoration efforts. The restoration of Zedler Marsh is ongoing and was recently opened to the public. The plans for another 100-acre parcel in the Southern area bordering the San Gabriel River is a new focus.
One private land, another significant near-term 106-acre restoration project, is the Synergy/Beach Oil Minerals site. Beach Oil Minerals (“BOM”) and the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority (LCWA) received approval from local, state, and federal agencies to decommission and remove existing oil development operations on two sites within the Los Cerritos Wetlands complex (the “Synergy” and “City” sites) and consolidate oil production operations on two smaller sites (the “Pumpkin Patch” and “LCWA” sites). The project will transition oil operations out of a 106-acres of the wetland complex over a 20-year period to make it available for wetland restoration, and consolidate oil production operations on the Pumpkin Patch and LCWA sites (which together comprise a total of 12 acres).
View the Los Cerritos Wetlands Restoration Plan. (24MB PDF)
Many organizations have an interest and a commitment to restoring the wetlands: federal, state, and local government agencies, California State University, Long Beach, environmental non-profits, local businesses, scientists, environmentalists, and many dedicated individuals. Many organizations have donated funds, others provide educational services, and offer planning expertise, research, and restoration services.
Wetlands Location & Ownership
For thousands of years, the Los Cerritos Wetlands were home to the Tongva before settlers of the Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. governments came. Today, 166 acres of the remaining 500 wetlands are held in trust for the public and managed by a joint powers group, the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority (LCWA) consisting of the City of Long Beach, the City of Seal Beach, the California Coastal Conservancy, and the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy. The remaining 337 acres are held by a number of private owners. The long-term goal is to acquire, restore and hold as public land the entire 500 acres.
Grant Making
The Fund believes there is a significant gap in financial resources needed to support the full range of projects necessary to conserve, manage, restore, and enhance the Los Cerritos Wetlands for the enjoyment of current and future generations. There is also an absence of meaningful financial backing for programs that educate the public about this national treasure, and support stewardship, access and other activities essential to the preservation of the wetlands.
While there are a number of organizations actively seeking to enhance and restore the Los Cerritos Wetlands and surrounding watershed, only the Los Cerritos Wetlands Fund has the specific mission of being the catalyst to generate and disperse financing for this broad range of synergistic projects. Estimates of unmet needs are in the tens of millions for strategic acquisitions, restoration, research, education, and stewardship of these wetlands.
The Fund works with corporate and individual donors, foundations, government institutions, and agencies who want to focus a portion of their giving in support of the Los Cerritos Wetlands area for the array of projects advanced by the Fund grant giving. In addition, the Fund raises resources for re-granting from other sources, including the general public, private, and public grant programs, events and sponsorships, projects that harness the passion of local residents and visitors (e.g., “green-bucks”), and the distribution of funds collected by state and local governments through mitigation fee programs (e.g., Southeast Area Specific Plan, Port of Long Beach, and Coastal Conservancy mitigation fund programs).
The Board of Directors is ultimately responsible for making grant decisions. In order to be fully informed, the Board may consult experts and Fund Advisors as part of the grant review process. The Fund reserves the right at all times to ask applicants for additional information and to ask follow-up questions. Grant awards will be reported by phone and email communication to the grantees and published on the Fund’s website. The Fund expects to issue a press release or make other public announcements of the grants and grant recipients. The Fund reserves the right not to award any grants during a given cycle if funding does not permit, if there are no applicants the Board believes meet the required criteria or for any other reason. View the page on How to Apply for a Grant. The Board will determine the amount of funding available for each grant cycle based on the Fund’s resources and other relevant factors and the final amount may vary between cycles.
To qualify, a grant applicant must be a non-profit organization or association that can demonstrate tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code. In limited situations, the Board may make an exception for a governmental, tribal, academic or similar institution that is part of a collaboration with one or more eligible non-profits. Grant funds may not be used to finance political or religious action or advocacy, or to pay costs of litigation.