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Guide to the Collection on Upper Newport Bay, circa 1949-1997
MS-R094
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Table of contents
Title: Collection on Upper Newport Bay,
Date (inclusive): circa 1949-1997
Collection number: MS-R094
Collector:
University of California, Irvine. Library. Government Information Collection.
Extent:
6.1 linear feet
7 boxes and 3 oversize folders
Repository:
University of California, Irvine. Library.
Special Collections and Archives.
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Abstract: Collection contains chiefly governmental and non-governmental agency reports concerning the controversial 1965 Upper Newport
Bay proposed land exchange between the County of Orange and the Irvine Company. Materials include plans and proposals for
preservation of the bay; information on its flora, fauna, and geology; correspondence; legal documents; audio recordings;
and printed ephemera. Public and expert meeting agendas, environmental surveys and policy reviews, and legal opinions and
briefs further illustrate the complexity of the issues, groups and individuals involved.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and University Archives.
Collection on Upper Newport Bay. MS-R94. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Some materials now in this collection were first given to Linda Adams (UCI Government Information Librarian) by Frances Robinson
in 1978. Additional materials on the subject collected from the early 1970s to the present, have been added by Government
Information librarians. Collection transferred to Special Collections and Archives, 2002.
Processed by Andre Ambrus, 2003. Additional materials processed by Audrey Pearson, 2007.
In the 1960s, after preparing the legal groundwork for over a decade, the Irvine Company (Orange County, California) proposed
a major land swap with the County of Orange. The proposal was unanimously approved by the Orange County Board of Supervisors
in 1965. The project, involving an exchange of publicly owned tidelands on the Upper Newport Bay in Orange County for Irvine
Company-owned blufflands, was intended to pave the way for the development of a marina, housing developments, and recreational
facilities along the Upper Newport Bay shoreline.
Though environmental activism was relatively unknown at the time, the plan quickly met with resistance from local residents.
Several grassroots environmental groups were formed and in 1967 the Friends of the Newport Bay (FONB), the most vocal and
instrumental group, held its first meeting. Local Newport Beach residents J. Frank and Frances Robinson were instrumental
in forming FONB. The subsequent interest and reporting by local and state media raised public awareness and directed attention
to controversial elements of the transaction.
In 1969, as a result of this new awareness, six Newport Beach residents, led by the Robinsons, filed as intervenors in a friendly
lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of the trade, halt the project, and reverse the decisions made by the Orange County
Board of Supervisors. The ongoing suits and their media coverage resulted in increasing public demand for the retention of
Upper Newport Bay land for public usage. Through a combination of political and legal actions the land exchange was canceled
in 1971. In 1974 the idea for the Upper Bay Reserve plan won federal approval and in 1975, ten years after the initial land
exchange proposal, the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve was dedicated.
| 1965 | Formal agreement is signed between Orange County and Irvine Co. for the exchange of privately held bluff lands for publicly held tide lands in order to facilitate residential development of Upper Newport Bay. |
| 1967 | State Lands Commission gives its endorsement to land exchange. |
| 1967 | Friends of Newport Bay is formed. |
| 1969 | Exchange is first tested in court. Frances and Frank Robinson and four other Newport Beach homeowners file as intervenors. |
| 1969 | Santa Barbara oil spill raises public awareness about environmental issues. |
| 1970 | Retention of Upper Newport Bay for public park is urged. |
| 1971 | New Board of Supervisors votes to cancel the Upper Newport Bay land exchange agreement between Orange County and the Irvine Company. |
| 1973 | Upper Bay land trade is held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of California. |
| 1973 | Irvine Company decides not to appeal ruling, thus effectively giving up on its earlier development plans, and in addition, agrees to sell its bluff lands for a wildlife preserve. |
| 1974 | Plans for a preserve in the Upper Bay win federal approval. |
| 1975 | Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve is dedicated. |
Collection Scope and Content Summary
Collection contains chiefly governmental and non-governmental agency reports concerning the controversial 1965 Upper Newport
Bay proposed land exchange between the County of Orange and the Irvine Company. Materials include plans and proposals for
preservation of the bay; information on its flora, fauna, and geology; correspondence; legal documents; audio recordings;
and printed ephemera. Public and expert meeting agendas, environmental surveys and policy reviews, and legal opinions and
briefs further illustrate the complexity of the issues, groups and individuals involved.
This collection is arranged into 5 series.
- Series 1. Legal documents, circa 1962-1975. 0.6 linear ft.
- Series 2. Research materials, circa 1949-1973. 0.8 linear ft.
- Series 3. Governmental and non-governmental publications, 1963-1996. 1.8 linear ft.
- Series 4. Newspaper clippings, 1963-1972. 0.7 linear ft.
- Series 5. Topical files, 1952-1997. 2.2 linear ft.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Coasts -- California -- Upper Newport Bay -- Archives.
Coastal zone management -- California -- Upper Newport Bay -- Archives.
Ecological reserves -- California -- Upper Newport Bay -- Archives.
Land use -- California -- Upper Newport Bay -- Archives.
Public lands -- California -- Upper Newport Bay -- Archives.
Wetland conservation -- California -- Upper Newport Bay -- Archives.
Wetland restoration -- California -- Upper Newport Bay -- Archives.
Green movement -- California -- Upper Newport Bay -- Archives.
Newport Bay (Calif.) -- Archives.
Newport Bay (Calif.) -- History -- Archives.
Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve (Calif.) -- Archives.
Genres and Formats of Materials
Environmental impact statements -- California -- Orange County -- Upper Newport Bay -- 20th century.
Letters -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
Plans -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
Sound recordings -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
Legal documents -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century
University of California, Irvine. Library. Government Publications Dept., collector.