Upper Newport Bay

Upper Newport Bay. Human Impact on the Estuary. , Lured to California by gold, Irish immigrant James Irvine instead made a fortune in real estate. Near the end of the Civil War, he and his partners bought two failing ranchos , one included the Upper Newport Bay estuary totaling 96,000 acres. , , Already involved in a wide variety of enterprises, in the 1930's the Irvine Company built and operated a salt works on the flatland below this bluff. You still can see a portion of the earthen dike that trapped seawater in holding ponds. , While too little water had undercut the success of local cattle ranchos in the 19th century, it was too much water (a massive flood in 1969) that damaged the dike and ended the industrial exploitation of the estuary. , From the 1950's onward it was development in the growing communities of Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Irvine that would pose new challenges to protecting the bay. , 3,500 years ago , Native peoples have lived on the shores of the bay for over 90 centuries. The most recent group, the Tongva (called the Gabrielino by the Spanish missionaries of mission San Gabriel), arrived about 3,500 years ago. , Pre-1700's , Before the Spanish Missions were established (pre-1769), the Tongva lived in seasonal village sites, often using wickiups, domed huts thatched with grass, or branches. Families fished, hunted, and collected food from the bay and surrounding mesas. , 1800's , Huge land grants from the Mexican government created a cluster of ranchos in Alta California including Jose Sepulveda's Rancho San Joaquin around Upper Newport Bay. Drought forced Sepulveda to sell his rancho in 1864 to James Irvine, Thomas, Benjamin Flint, and Llewellyn Bixby. , 1930's , Besides sheep and cattle ranching the Irvine Company began exploring other commercial enterprises. They opened a salt works in 1935. Evaporation ponds allowed them to extract up to 5,000 pounds of salt per year. , 1940's , Shells dredged from the estuary were ground, and added to commercial chicken feed beginning in the 1940's. , 1960's , Together with other local citizens, Frank and Fran Robinson, formed the Friends of Newport Bay in 1967 to promote the natural values of the bay and protect it from being developed into a commercial marina. , 1970's and 80's , In 1975, the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve was dedicated to protect 752 acres of the Back Bay. An additional 140 acres of uplands were dedicated in 1989 as the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve. , Today , Today, the Back Bay supports over 1,000 species of plants and wildlife, as well as two public educational centers , the Muth Interpretive Center and the Back Bay Science Center. Hiking, biking, equestrian and water trails offer ways to explore and enjoy this beautiful and historic place.