The Bolsa Chica wetlands recently saw an astonishing transformation: from oil fields to a tidal basin connected to the ocean for the first time in more than a century.

But the 2006 restoration of the wetland was only the latest in a series of transformations for the complex of water channels, reed beds, islands and nesting grounds.

“There’s 8,000 years of Native American occupation,” says Dave Carlberg, a retired microbiology professor, president of Amigos de Bolsa Chica and author of a new book on the wetlands.

“It was once a Spanish cattle ranch,” he says. “It was a duck-hunting preserve for awhile. It was one of the largest oil fields for awhile — one of the richest oil fields in California. Now it’s the site of one of the largest wetland restorations going in California.”

Carlberg recently published “Bolsa Chica: its History from Prehistoric Times to Present.”

The wetland, he says, ”really cries out for a book because its history is just so fascinating.”

Details on how to purchase the $20 book can be found at the Amigos de Bolsa Chica Web site.

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