Crowdog
05-09-2002, 06:28 AM
Ocean Dunes drivers get green light for
Coastal Commission rejects request to restrict access
David Sneed
The Tribune
Oceano --
SANTA ROSA — Off-highway-vehicle enthusiasts held sway over the state Coastal Commission on Wednesday by persuading the powerful panel to keep open stretches of beach for their use at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.
After five hours of testimony, the commission rejected requests to make five miles of the park’s beach off-limits to vehicles, as recommended by environmentalists.
More than 200 people attended the hearing, with about three-quarters in support of continued vehicle use on the beach and continued public participation in the technical review team. They sported a variety of T-shirts with slogans such as “Access for all” and “No more compromise!”
Many of the off-road-vehicle enthusiasts told the commission, some in tearful speeches, that Oceano Dunes is their favorite park because it caters to family activities. They also lamented the continued loss of off-roading recreational opportunities in the state.
“This is one of the last places that low-income families can come and recreate,” said Carolyn Suty of San Jose.
A smaller number of Sierra Club activists attended the meeting, urging the commission to increase protection for rare and endangered species. Particularly threatened is the snowy plover, a tiny shorebird that nests along the surf line. At previous hearings, commission members had expressed concern about high plover mortality rates at Oceano Dunes.
“All of their declarations of sympathy for the snowy plovers is just a bunch of cheap talk,” said a disappointed Mark Massara of the Sierra Club’s coastal program of the commission’s failure to require more protections.
More than 70 plover chicks were born in the park in 2001, but only two fledged. Many were killed by loggerhead shrikes, a predatory bird.
Acting State Parks Department Director Ruth Coleman said her department is committed to protecting plovers and aiding their recovery. However, the agency’s strategy is to concentrate its plover recovery efforts on remote beaches, such as the Morro sand spit, while allowing continued access at popular beaches such as Oceano Dunes and Huntington Beach, where plover density is low.
“Plover recovery has to be considered in the context of the whole coast,” Coleman said. “When we look at the snowy plover, we are looking at different parks for different purposes.”
This angered environmentalists, who accused the Parks Department of writing off the Oceano Dunes plover population. They want vehicles restricted to the park’s inland sand dunes and kept off the beach where the plovers nest.
“What is the point of our efforts if all the chicks are dying at Oceano Dunes?” asked Christina Sandoval, who manages 180 plovers in Santa Barbara County at Coal Oil Point Preserve.
Advisory team maintained
The commissioners also turned down a recommendation to exclude the public from a fractious committee that advises the state Parks Department on management of the dunes area.
Commission staff had recommended that environmentalists, off-highway-vehicle groups and local elected officials be excluded from a so-called technical review team because they often argued among themselves and made the group dysfunctional. The team is only a year old, and the commission decided to give it more time to see if the members can work together.
“We would have been delusional if we thought this group would not have been combative,” said Commissioner Dave Potter of Monterey.
The team and the Parks Department must report annually at a public hearing to the commission about steps they are taking to protect resources at the park. The commission will receive its next update early next year.
“This commission has become a lightning rod on this issue because we are the only ones who hold public hearings on it,” said Commissioner Mike Reilly of Forestville in Sonoma County. “We have always erred to be more inclusive rather than less inclusive.”
Several public members of the technical review team attended the hearing and promised to bicker less. They said excluding the so-called stakeholders would make the team less effective.
“I think we can get through the finger-pointing and the nonsense that has preceded us,” said Peter Keith, a member of the team and a former Grover Beach mayor. “Without stakeholders, we are not balanced.”
Coastal Commission rejects request to restrict access
David Sneed
The Tribune
Oceano --
SANTA ROSA — Off-highway-vehicle enthusiasts held sway over the state Coastal Commission on Wednesday by persuading the powerful panel to keep open stretches of beach for their use at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.
After five hours of testimony, the commission rejected requests to make five miles of the park’s beach off-limits to vehicles, as recommended by environmentalists.
More than 200 people attended the hearing, with about three-quarters in support of continued vehicle use on the beach and continued public participation in the technical review team. They sported a variety of T-shirts with slogans such as “Access for all” and “No more compromise!”
Many of the off-road-vehicle enthusiasts told the commission, some in tearful speeches, that Oceano Dunes is their favorite park because it caters to family activities. They also lamented the continued loss of off-roading recreational opportunities in the state.
“This is one of the last places that low-income families can come and recreate,” said Carolyn Suty of San Jose.
A smaller number of Sierra Club activists attended the meeting, urging the commission to increase protection for rare and endangered species. Particularly threatened is the snowy plover, a tiny shorebird that nests along the surf line. At previous hearings, commission members had expressed concern about high plover mortality rates at Oceano Dunes.
“All of their declarations of sympathy for the snowy plovers is just a bunch of cheap talk,” said a disappointed Mark Massara of the Sierra Club’s coastal program of the commission’s failure to require more protections.
More than 70 plover chicks were born in the park in 2001, but only two fledged. Many were killed by loggerhead shrikes, a predatory bird.
Acting State Parks Department Director Ruth Coleman said her department is committed to protecting plovers and aiding their recovery. However, the agency’s strategy is to concentrate its plover recovery efforts on remote beaches, such as the Morro sand spit, while allowing continued access at popular beaches such as Oceano Dunes and Huntington Beach, where plover density is low.
“Plover recovery has to be considered in the context of the whole coast,” Coleman said. “When we look at the snowy plover, we are looking at different parks for different purposes.”
This angered environmentalists, who accused the Parks Department of writing off the Oceano Dunes plover population. They want vehicles restricted to the park’s inland sand dunes and kept off the beach where the plovers nest.
“What is the point of our efforts if all the chicks are dying at Oceano Dunes?” asked Christina Sandoval, who manages 180 plovers in Santa Barbara County at Coal Oil Point Preserve.
Advisory team maintained
The commissioners also turned down a recommendation to exclude the public from a fractious committee that advises the state Parks Department on management of the dunes area.
Commission staff had recommended that environmentalists, off-highway-vehicle groups and local elected officials be excluded from a so-called technical review team because they often argued among themselves and made the group dysfunctional. The team is only a year old, and the commission decided to give it more time to see if the members can work together.
“We would have been delusional if we thought this group would not have been combative,” said Commissioner Dave Potter of Monterey.
The team and the Parks Department must report annually at a public hearing to the commission about steps they are taking to protect resources at the park. The commission will receive its next update early next year.
“This commission has become a lightning rod on this issue because we are the only ones who hold public hearings on it,” said Commissioner Mike Reilly of Forestville in Sonoma County. “We have always erred to be more inclusive rather than less inclusive.”
Several public members of the technical review team attended the hearing and promised to bicker less. They said excluding the so-called stakeholders would make the team less effective.
“I think we can get through the finger-pointing and the nonsense that has preceded us,” said Peter Keith, a member of the team and a former Grover Beach mayor. “Without stakeholders, we are not balanced.”