Newport Bay Naturalists And Friends

 Newport Bay Conservancy (NBC) bears a singular mission to protect and preserve the Upper Newport Bay and its watershed through education, restoration, research and advocacy. For over 50 years NBC has relied on the steady effort and dedication of members and volunteers without whom none of our aspirations and accomplishments, indeed our entire vision for the well-being and sustainability of the Bay, would be possible. NBC continues to be the beneficiary of a strong tradition of volunteerism and a consistent history of community support.

Newport Bay Conservancy (Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends) is a volunteer-driven organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of Upper Newport Bay (UNB). The organization was founded In the 1960s, when local residents opposed plans to turn this wetland into marinas and private docks. The Friends of Newport Bay was formed to support the citizens’ campaign and subsequently evolved into the present-day Conservancy. In 1975, UNB was declared a State ecological reserve under the supervision of the California State Department of Fish and Wildlife. In 1989, the County of Orange declared the bluffs on the northwest side of UNB a nature preserve.

Upper Newport Bay (UNB) Ecological Reserve and Nature Preserve are an important habitat, as Southern California's coastal wetlands are of vital ecological, hydrological, and economic significance to the region. UNB holds critical nesting, feeding and breeding grounds for many species. Many of these species are endangered, including the Ridgway Rail, Belding's Savannah Sparrow and the California Least Tern.

Over the years, NBC has contributed over 140,000 volunteer hours in service of programs pertaining to education, restoration, research, and advocacy in support of the Bay. These activities have included efforts to get citizens involved in water quality and clean-up days to help increase awareness of the Bay’s importance to the local ecosystem and the sensitivity of the habitats the Bay contains. We have also worked as a liaison to help coordinate the numerous federal, state and local agencies that manage the Bay’s resources. Through the help of volunteers and public education, we have helped to protect sensitive sites, restore lands and protect habitats.

Today, nearly 1,000 acres and surrounding uplands are preserved in perpetuity for all to enjoy. Amid the Bay, wildlife seeks refuge while Californians take solace in nature. UNB provides important open space for the public to bike, jog, and kayak or walk and observe nature’s beauty. Tomorrow’s generations can only trust that we will continue to learn about and appreciate this jewel of an open space, so they might enjoy it as we have.

Newport Bay Conservancy has been the leading nonprofit organization dedicated solely to protecting and preserving Upper Newport Bay. In 2024, we continued serving our mission through the following milestones:

Education:
- Volunteer Training: 56 volunteers completed one-day orientation and training along with CPR/First Aid training to become Associate Volunteers. Sixteen volunteers graduated from our Naturalist training program, a comprehensive program that prepares participants to share knowledge about the natural history and ecology of the Bay as leaders of public-facing programs at NBC. These new Naturalists produced and ran two new public programs, a Summer Solstice Lantern Walk with Loving-Kindness Meditation and three separate Nature Scavenger Hunts reaching over 500 people. In the Fall of 2024, we welcomed a new class of 12 Naturalist trainees who participated in the first 12 weeks of training sessions and weekend field study. In the next phase of their training, these Naturalist trainees will learn how to lead walking tours, grade school programs, high school programs, water tours, and restoration.

- College Internships: Three College Corps Fellows from UCI volunteered between 300-450 hours through their 2023-2024 academic year helping build our capacity and assist in a variety of programs. For the 2024-2025 school year, NBC expanded to work with two more Fellows from Vanguard University.

- High School & College Programming: We provided 700 high school and college students with boating & safety training as part of our Environmental Education program.

- Elementary School programming: We inspired 560 students through the FiiN (Fostering Interest in Nature) Program, which connects 5th graders to the Bay through an overnight nature camp. Approximately 1,350, K-5th graders were educated through 1-day field trips to the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center and Back Bay Science Center

Public Outreach:
- Volunteers educated over 2,000 visitors at Community Day Sundays, which feature tours of the Back Bay Science Center, guided nature walks and presentations on the history of the Back Bay and introductions to the area’s flora and fauna.

- NBC staff and volunteers participated in numerous special events and outreach activities connecting thousands of people to the Bay which included hosting a water station at the OC Marathon, UCI's Sustainaval, multiple school STEAM nights and the Hyatt Newport Beach + Subaru Jazz Festival.

- Our team, alongside 20 other nonprofit partners, helped produce Earth Day at the Bay, reaching over 2,800 participants of all ages for a day of hands-on arts and crafts, educational activities and science discovery.

- We hosted the Back Bay Plein Air Art Festival, reaching over 1,000 people with art exhibitions, classes and public sale.

- We hosted Cleanup Day at the Bay for 650 participants, who removed over 12,000 pounds of trash from the Bay.

Restoration:
- We continue to be heavily involved with the restoration of Newport Valley in partnership with Project Grow

- We developed and managed the native plant nursery and assisted OC Parks’s monthly restoration activity as part of their Second Sunday program

- We continue weekly monitoring and maintenance of Phase 2A of the Big Canyon Habitat Restoration Project, which included removing six, 40-yard dumpsters of invasive plant vegetation from the Canyon, estimated to weigh almost 60,000 pounds! Early College High School, Biola University, Santa Ana Art Collective, AAA, PIMCO, Edison Energy, Fleetguard and Clark Construction were among the volunteers who pitched in a total of 1,730 hours of support during our weekly stewardship events.

- We have completed 90% of the design for Phase 3 of the Big Canyon Habitat Restoration project which included receiving permits from the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Coastal Commission, and Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board. We also successfully applied and received two awards for the implementation of this phase including a $1M grant in partnership with the State Coastal Conservancy through the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant program and $2.6M grant from the Ocean Protection Council.

- Continue the Algerian Sea Lavender (ASL) Project to manage invasive Sea Lavenders (Limonium ramosissimum and Limonium duriusculum) in the Bay. These invasive plants crowd out native vegetation and are a threat to multiple threatened and endangered species including the Belding’s Savanah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis spp. belding) and Salt Marsh Bird’s Beak (Chloropyron maritimum ssp. maritimum).

- Population surveys guide application of our integrated pest management scheme to focus on areas where invasive and endangered species are in contention. Hand-pulling, tarping, and scraping are the primary removal techniques. Public volunteers and community groups are the primary method of application of those techniques. During the 2023-2024 season, 1,647 hours were logged hand pulling and tarping. During this time a total of 10,240 pounds of invasive Limonium was removed while clearing 4.3 acres of habitat.

- Hosted the second year of the Weed Warrior Program which trained volunteers on plant identification and how to map using ArcGIS. Volunteers created 324 observations, 25 targeted species, documenting roughly 2 acres of infested areas for treatment.

It takes thousands of hours of work and millions of dollars each year to protect and preserve the unique treasure we have in our backyard that is the Upper Newport Bay.

NBC has historically enjoyed wonderful support from the community. As we seek to tackle ever more ambitious goals related to restoring habitats and educating the public, we require additional financial support.

Our 2025 funding priorities include:

- Support for large scale restoration projects: NBC has received several multi-million dollar grants to restore large sections of the Back Bay and Big Canyon, and we continue to pursue grant funding to tackle additional restoration projects that are of vital importance to the Bay and the species who call it home. We require flexible funding to support our efforts to compete for these grants and to provide operational support as projects are executed.

- Education Programs: Our programs connect over 3,000 students to the Bay each year. To continue to support and expand our engagement with student groups, we need funding to help cover coordination of student activities, transportation and supplies.

- Signage Project: With support from the Orange County Board of Supervisors, we installed ten signs along the trails in the Nature Preserve that provide directions and information to the public. We would like to install matching signage on the opposite side of the Bay along Back Bay Drive to further help protect the Bay from damage from off-trail activities and help educate the public about the Bay.

Our work focuses on the 1,000 acres of open space in Upper Newport Bay. We serve schools and the public from all areas of Orange County, taking priority of those in our watershed. Our reach impacts some communities of Los Angeles County and beyond.

Newport Bay Conservancy (NBC), in partnership with the City of Newport Beach, began work in 2020 on Phase 2 of the Big Canyon Nature Park Improvement Project. NBC received more than $2,000,000 for this work through the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, the California Coastal Conservancy and the Ocean Protection Council.

Over the past four years, we have been working diligently in this section of the canyon to create a more resilient habitat by removing thousands of invasive plants and attending to 28,000 native plants. We continue to monitor and maintain this section of the canyon while also designing, permitting and securing another $6,500,000 in grant funds with the goal of restoring the last section of Big Canyon, Phase 3 by Fall 2024. The final section seeks to expand the Bay into the canyon to allow for sea-level rise.

Newport Bay Conservancy has operated like a typical "friends" organization for the past 50 years: All donations received have gone directly back into the Bay. Donations go toward training new volunteers, educating youth, conducting restoration projects, organizing trash cleanups and much more. But as we take on large grant contracts to do great work such as that in Big Canyon, we need much more than the typical "friends" donation to keep things running. To sustain these larger efforts to protect and preserve the Bay, $250,000 or more in capital is needed.

We hope you will help.

To be able to continue the important work NBC is doing, we are asking our local community to join in helping us by matching the public support seen from the state. Please consider making a one-time donation to help us build the capital needed to take on these large-scale restoration projects while continuing our important educational endeavors.

Happy Trails,

Heather Cieslak, MPA
Operations Director
Newport Bay Conservancy
heather.cieslak@newportbay.org

Spending time in nature in the Back Bay is one of the most special experiences Newport Beach has to offer. The Back Bay is the one single place that brings us all together. The staff and volunteers of Newport Bay Conservancy are dedicated to ensuring the Back Bay continues to thrive and will be able to welcome generations to come. Our teams put in thousands of hours into restoration projects and educational events, and they put millions of grant dollars to good use. As a result, tens of thousands of annual visitors have a beautiful place to enjoy and learn.

Our community is always growing and becoming stronger, and we can use additional help in any number of ways: participating in our programs, spreading the word about public events, taking advantage of volunteer opportunities and donating funds that support the Bay. The stronger ties we have with each other, the better we can protect and preserve this land for the plants, the birds, and the people.

If you want to connect more with the Bay to educate, restore, research and advocate, please visit our website, newportbay.org to learn more and stay connected with us through our YouTube Channel, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Yours in Nature,

Bryan Tsu
President
Newport Bay Conservancy
Bryan.Tsu@newportbay.org