NATURAL PERSPECTIVES:

We’re writing our column on Sept. 11, the fifth anniversary of the despicable attack on American citizens by Muslim extremists. Remembering the horror of that day makes it hard to concentrate on our local environment and its needs.

One of my friends worked with a woman who was flying back to Los Angeles from Washington, D.C., that fateful morning. The scientist was scheduled for a late-morning flight, but having finished her work at the National Institutes of Health the day before, she rebooked onto an earlier flight — the one that crashed into the Pentagon.

Vic had two students who were at the top of the World Trade Center the day before it fell. They took some of the last tourist pictures that would be snapped from that location.

I remember my outrage at a subculture that used civilian aircraft filled with innocent people as weapons. They callously crashed planes that carried the elderly and infants, caring not a whit for their lives.

I remember my outrage at an attack that targeted firefighters and police, our first responders to civilian disasters. How can anyone think that God wants them to do such things? I’m still outraged.

I counter rage with good works. I spent this fifth anniversary of the World Trade Center collapse laboring in the field with my kids from the Orange County Conservation Corps.

We attacked weeds at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center. We filled one trash can after another with weeds and debris and upended them into dumpsters. We did good work and felt good about ourselves.

After we finished, we moved on to the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. There, we pulled up the little flags that had marked last year’s very successful plantings along Pacific Coast Highway near Warner Avenue. The mulefat has grown from six inches to 4 feet tall. The coast goldenbush is in full bloom. The California boxthorns, California buckwheat and coyote brush are thriving.

With various work crews from the corps, we cared for this area for a year. The flags were no longer needed. That portion of the habitat is a functioning wetland buffer zone.

Unfortunately, some members of the general public have not been helpful or thoughtful. The Corps kids remarked about the cigarette butts that littered the sand, thoughtlessly tossed out of car windows. Plastic grocery bags, cups, CDs and countless other nonbiodegradable debris littered our planting area. These inner-city kids were disgusted by the amount of litter.

Fortunately, something positive can be done about the mess. Saturday marks the 22nd annual California Coastal Cleanup Day. With eight miles of beachfront, Huntington Beach needs every volunteer it can get to clean our beaches and wetlands.

In 1993, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized California Coastal Cleanup Day as the “largest garbage collection” ever organized. That year, more than 50,000 volunteers removed 512,537 pounds of debris from California’s beaches and wetlands.

The cleanup in September 2001 saw a drop in the number of volunteers, probably because people were still reeling from the attack of Sept. 11. Since then, participation has climbed back up. Volunteers now remove nearly a million pounds of debris from California’s beaches and wetlands on Coastal Cleanup Day.

There is no shortage of places in town to volunteer. For Bolsa Chica State Beach, meet at its Lifeguard Headquarters to sign-in and to get bags, gloves and a tally card. Record-keeping is an important part of Coastal Cleanup Day. Lifeguard Lon Graham, (714) 377-2456, is the contact person.

For cleanup at Huntington City Beach, contact Tim Dugan at (714) 536-5614 or [email protected].

For Huntington State Beach and Talbert Marsh, meet near the south end of State Beach. Ann McCarthy of the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy is the contact person (714-963-2123).

Wetlands are more sensitive habitats than beaches, and pre-registration of groups are necessary to keep from over-running the delicate ecosystem. The Amigos de Bolsa Chica, Bolsa Chica Conservancy and Bolsa Chica Land Trust are organizing a three-pronged cleanup effort. From 6:30 to 8:30 a.m., the groups will clean Outer Bolsa Bay. This cleanup effort will be limited to 20 to 25 people to minimize disturbance of the pickleweed habitat.

From 8 a.m. until noon, between 100 and 150 people are needed to pick up trash and do trail maintenance. Contacts are (714) 846-1114, [email protected], (714) 840-1575 or [email protected].

You can learn more about Coastal Cleanup Day by visiting www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html.

On Sept. 20, pre-selected boaters will be cleaning Bolsa Bay by canoe and kayak from the water. This portion of coastal cleanup is closed to the public. We’re only mentioning it in case you see kayakers in the Ecological Reserve and think boating is now allowed. It isn’t.

If you want to feel good in the face of bad times or horrible memories, do good works. Give back to your own little corner of the world to help counter all of the bad that happens. You’ll feel better about yourself, and the environment will benefit.