Gualala fireworks disturb birds

Gualala's fireworks display disrupted sea birds nesting on a federally protected near-shore island, but scientists said they still have to determine how bad the disturbance was and if there will be lasting effects.

"There are indications there was a disturbance of the sea bird colony, but the degree of disturbance is what we need to look at," said Rick Peters, the manager of the California Coastal National Monument. "We are looking for a trend."

Peters said the results of the study, which is ongoing, may be used by the California Coastal Commission, state Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to determine whether the fireworks are allowed again next year.

"It will be used by agencies that are involved in dealing with future permits to determine whether there is a basis to continue or not continue or what modifications need to be made," Peters said.

The 17-minute fireworks display Friday drew 3,000 people to Gualala.

It was the second year for the fireworks, which went off over objections that last year's display caused a major disruption of birds nesting on Gualala Point Island.

The island, which sits 100 yards off The Sea Ranch and about a mile from Gualala, is part of the coast national monument. There are said to be more than 100 nests on the island.

"It is an important habitat area," said Diane Hichwa, a Sea Ranch resident and member of both the Mendocino Coast and Madrone Audubon societies.

Hichwa is one of the leaders of a U.S. Bureau of Land Management program monitoring the impact of the fireworks. The effort, which began July 1 and lasts until Thursday, will assess what the sea bird population did before, during and after the fireworks.

Hichwa refused to discuss any of the observations so far.

Fireworks proponents complained that they were left out of the monitoring process and denied access to The Sea Ranch to see for themselves if there was any disturbance.

"If we got nothing but objectors doing the observation, I could imagine what the report will say," said Marshall Sayegh of the Gualala Festivals Committee. "I have serious concerns regarding what appears to be a biased observation."

Peters said the monitoring teams are "citizen scientists" trained by the bureau. Part of the training was a lecture on objectivity, he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@pressdemocrat.

com.