National Wildlife Refuge Association

SoCal Urban Wildlife Refuge Project

Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge is a coastal unit of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex that encompasses 911 acres of saltwater marsh in the Anaheim Bay estuary. Less than 10 percent of California’s natural wetlands remain, meaning that every acre of protected coastal habitat is vital to the survival of many species, including the endangered California Least Tern and Light-Footed Ridgway’s Rail. For 5 years, NWRA has partnered with the refuge to assist with habitat restoration and maintenance by providing direct staff support and assisting with coordinating the Conservation Corps of Long Beach (CCLB) Coastal Crew, which cleared a significant backlog of major projects in 2024. In the absence of a refuge manager and reduced budgets, NWRA has been working closely with the recently hired Navy biologist as well as USFWS to ensure projects meet goals in approved recovery plans and meet the environmental goals set by the Navy around the Anaheim Bay project. Guidelines for species recovery established at the federal level inform and align with state wildlife action plans, and include input from biologists and other wildlife experts on the federal, state, and local levels. The recovery plans are expansive and cover multiple years. NWRA works closely with partners and other stakeholders to conduct biological surveys, nest monitoring and habitat improvement, invasive plant removal, and promote the refuge through public events and media whenever possible. Our largest task continues to be ensuring the safety and health of the California Least Tern colony at NASA Island, and modifications made to both the restoration strategy and replacement of structures allowed for better predator monitoring and provided a more favorable nesting area for the terns. Thanks to the efforts of the CCLB and partners, the tern colony successfully nested for a fourth consecutive year, even as they failed to appear at other sites like Venice Beach. Our project has been so successful that the refuge received a visit from Interior Secretary Haaland on Endangered Species Day, May 17, 2024. Our biggest challenge in previous years was base access due to geopolitical threat conditions, in addition to the lack of a refuge manager, but the Coastal Crew and Friends maintained access The Department of the Navy can restrict access anytime for public health or national security purposes, but once again we don’t anticipate sudden closures to all non-military personnel unless there is a prolonged government shutdown. Limited weekend tours and school group visits were permitted in 2024, and we hope to offer more field trips and public tours in 2025.