Bakersfield, CA - Sierra Club protest 4/4/02
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http://www.bakersfield.com/top/stor...4p-972050c.html
Access fight far from over
By KERRY CAVANAUGH, Californian staff writer
Thursday April 04, 2002
OCEANO -- This 5.5-mile stretch of California coast is the latest stage for an ongoing battle pitting environmentalists fighting to protect endangered species and off-road vehicle users trying to preserve access.
Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area -- commonly called Pismo -- is the only piece of shoreline in California where people can drive and camp on the beach. It's a favorite spot for off-road vehicle riders, many of them San Joaquin Valley residents.
The beach is also home to three threatened and endangered birds and fish. One of those birds is the western snowy plover, whose population on the Pacific coastline is down to 2,000 birds.
At the end of last year's breeding season, scientists discovered just two plovers on the Oceano dunes had survived, out of approximately 70 hatched chicks.
Within weeks, the Sierra Club sued the state in federal court for violating the Endangered Species Act by not protecting the plover and the other species here.
Separately, the California Coastal Commission is considering requiring the state to further restrict vehicles, also to protect the bird's nesting area. A vote is expected next month.
Either a federal judge or the commission could order the beach and dunes closed to vehicles.
That has off-road vehicle users and local businesses worried. The park easily hits its capacity of 1,000 campers on busy weekends. And visitors pump millions of dollars into the local economy, park officials said.
Supporters formed the Friends of the Oceano Dunes to lobby for keeping the beach open to vehicles.
The group will hold a meeting in Bakersfield Saturday to review the lawsuit and rally opposition. A similar meeting in Hanford in February drew as many as 1,000 people, organizers said.
It may seem odd to have huge rallies in the valley for a seaside park 150 miles from Bakersfield. But more than half of the park's 1.25 million annual visitors are from the valley.
"A lot of people from here have been going for generations," said Bakersfield resident Dick Taylor, organizer of Saturday's meeting.
Longtime park visitors have watched all-terrain vehicle access areas shrink to less than half of the park's original size.
"All we're looking for is balance," Taylor said. The park is just a small piece of California's 1,100 miles of shoreline, he said. "This is all we have left to drive on."
Taylor fears Oceano Dunes could end up like the coastline near Vandenberg Air Force Base, which was largely closed to horses and people to protect the plover during its nesting season from March through September.
Protecting wildlife
Tarren Collins, president of the Sierra Club's Santa Lucia chapter, points to Vandenberg as a success story. The rate of hatching chicks has increased there since the base began restricting access to protect the birds.
She said the state is violating the Endangered Species Act by not taking similar measures here.
"They need to get cars out of the area during nesting season," Collins said. "Extreme measures are needed because the species is on the brink of extinction."
Stuck in the middle of the debate is the California Department of Parks and Recreation.
Dunes ecologist Laura Gardner said the park is trying to balance the needs of humans and wildlife.
Every January, the state and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sit down to plan how to protect the plovers during their nesting season.
Park employees canvass the beach every day to check nests of the plover and the California least tern, another endangered bird on the beach. The tern's future is less precarious than the plover's, Gardner said.
The park has fenced in roughly 164 acres of dunes to protect the plover's primary nesting areas. Those fences are amidst 1,500 acres of sand dunes open to vehicles.
Gardner said although fencing can keep out people and some predators, such as coyotes, the young plovers are grouped together in the enclosed nesting areas making them susceptible to predatory birds.
Recent studies show larger birds are responsible for the deaths of the majority of the the young plovers.
Off-road vehicle proponents complain their sport is being unfairly blamed for reducing the plover population.
But the Sierra Club's Collins said the birds are more vulnerable because they are corralled inside the fences put up to keep them from being run over by off-roaders.
To try to remedy the newest problem, this year the park began concentrating on removing predator birds.
Chief Ranger Andy Zilke said the park has followed the guidance of federal biologists.
He said Oceano Dunes is taking the correct steps to protect the plover, although some groups believe the state isn't doing enough. He also said he thinks off-roading is an appropriate use of the coast in the area.
"I want to protect this access because it's important that people have this," he said, surveying the dunes.
The future of the dunes
The Sierra Club lawsuit against the state is now moving through the U.S. District Court. Off-road groups have asked to intervene in the suit as interested parties, although there hasn't been a judgment on their participation.
The lawsuit has prompted rumors that the beach and dunes are already closed, but it hasn't really slowed visitors.
On Wednesday, the beach was busy with horse riders and all-terrain vehicles scrambling over the dunes. The scattered trucks and campers were just a hint of the crowds that cover the beach during the summer.
Oceano is famous among riders, said Livermore resident Charlie Frerking, 18, who was showing off his skills on an all-terrain vehicle.
"When you think of dunes, you think Pismo," he said, using the park's old name.
Upon arrival to the park he was given a packet of rules and information on the endangered species, he said.
San Luis Obispo resident Robert Elberg and his 12-year-old son, Kirk, cruised over the dunes, taking advantage of the relatively empty beach.
He's seen dunes so crowded with riders that he's turned around and gone home. Elberg heard about the lawsuit and has mixed feelings.
"As long as people are not hurting the environment and are not tearing up stuff, I see nothing wrong with this," Elberg said of the park.
Though only a second-time visitor, Valerie Ballou was thrilled with the park.
"The combination of the dunes in back and the beach in front, it's wonderful," she said. "I would hate to see it closed for everyone."
The Friends of the Oceano Dunes meeting will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Kern River Golf Course picnic area near Lake Ming.
Access fight far from over
By KERRY CAVANAUGH, Californian staff writer
Thursday April 04, 2002
OCEANO -- This 5.5-mile stretch of California coast is the latest stage for an ongoing battle pitting environmentalists fighting to protect endangered species and off-road vehicle users trying to preserve access.
Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area -- commonly called Pismo -- is the only piece of shoreline in California where people can drive and camp on the beach. It's a favorite spot for off-road vehicle riders, many of them San Joaquin Valley residents.
The beach is also home to three threatened and endangered birds and fish. One of those birds is the western snowy plover, whose population on the Pacific coastline is down to 2,000 birds.
At the end of last year's breeding season, scientists discovered just two plovers on the Oceano dunes had survived, out of approximately 70 hatched chicks.
Within weeks, the Sierra Club sued the state in federal court for violating the Endangered Species Act by not protecting the plover and the other species here.
Separately, the California Coastal Commission is considering requiring the state to further restrict vehicles, also to protect the bird's nesting area. A vote is expected next month.
Either a federal judge or the commission could order the beach and dunes closed to vehicles.
That has off-road vehicle users and local businesses worried. The park easily hits its capacity of 1,000 campers on busy weekends. And visitors pump millions of dollars into the local economy, park officials said.
Supporters formed the Friends of the Oceano Dunes to lobby for keeping the beach open to vehicles.
The group will hold a meeting in Bakersfield Saturday to review the lawsuit and rally opposition. A similar meeting in Hanford in February drew as many as 1,000 people, organizers said.
It may seem odd to have huge rallies in the valley for a seaside park 150 miles from Bakersfield. But more than half of the park's 1.25 million annual visitors are from the valley.
"A lot of people from here have been going for generations," said Bakersfield resident Dick Taylor, organizer of Saturday's meeting.
Longtime park visitors have watched all-terrain vehicle access areas shrink to less than half of the park's original size.
"All we're looking for is balance," Taylor said. The park is just a small piece of California's 1,100 miles of shoreline, he said. "This is all we have left to drive on."
Taylor fears Oceano Dunes could end up like the coastline near Vandenberg Air Force Base, which was largely closed to horses and people to protect the plover during its nesting season from March through September.
Protecting wildlife
Tarren Collins, president of the Sierra Club's Santa Lucia chapter, points to Vandenberg as a success story. The rate of hatching chicks has increased there since the base began restricting access to protect the birds.
She said the state is violating the Endangered Species Act by not taking similar measures here.
"They need to get cars out of the area during nesting season," Collins said. "Extreme measures are needed because the species is on the brink of extinction."
Stuck in the middle of the debate is the California Department of Parks and Recreation.
Dunes ecologist Laura Gardner said the park is trying to balance the needs of humans and wildlife.
Every January, the state and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sit down to plan how to protect the plovers during their nesting season.
Park employees canvass the beach every day to check nests of the plover and the California least tern, another endangered bird on the beach. The tern's future is less precarious than the plover's, Gardner said.
The park has fenced in roughly 164 acres of dunes to protect the plover's primary nesting areas. Those fences are amidst 1,500 acres of sand dunes open to vehicles.
Gardner said although fencing can keep out people and some predators, such as coyotes, the young plovers are grouped together in the enclosed nesting areas making them susceptible to predatory birds.
Recent studies show larger birds are responsible for the deaths of the majority of the the young plovers.
Off-road vehicle proponents complain their sport is being unfairly blamed for reducing the plover population.
But the Sierra Club's Collins said the birds are more vulnerable because they are corralled inside the fences put up to keep them from being run over by off-roaders.
To try to remedy the newest problem, this year the park began concentrating on removing predator birds.
Chief Ranger Andy Zilke said the park has followed the guidance of federal biologists.
He said Oceano Dunes is taking the correct steps to protect the plover, although some groups believe the state isn't doing enough. He also said he thinks off-roading is an appropriate use of the coast in the area.
"I want to protect this access because it's important that people have this," he said, surveying the dunes.
The future of the dunes
The Sierra Club lawsuit against the state is now moving through the U.S. District Court. Off-road groups have asked to intervene in the suit as interested parties, although there hasn't been a judgment on their participation.
The lawsuit has prompted rumors that the beach and dunes are already closed, but it hasn't really slowed visitors.
On Wednesday, the beach was busy with horse riders and all-terrain vehicles scrambling over the dunes. The scattered trucks and campers were just a hint of the crowds that cover the beach during the summer.
Oceano is famous among riders, said Livermore resident Charlie Frerking, 18, who was showing off his skills on an all-terrain vehicle.
"When you think of dunes, you think Pismo," he said, using the park's old name.
Upon arrival to the park he was given a packet of rules and information on the endangered species, he said.
San Luis Obispo resident Robert Elberg and his 12-year-old son, Kirk, cruised over the dunes, taking advantage of the relatively empty beach.
He's seen dunes so crowded with riders that he's turned around and gone home. Elberg heard about the lawsuit and has mixed feelings.
"As long as people are not hurting the environment and are not tearing up stuff, I see nothing wrong with this," Elberg said of the park.
Though only a second-time visitor, Valerie Ballou was thrilled with the park.
"The combination of the dunes in back and the beach in front, it's wonderful," she said. "I would hate to see it closed for everyone."
The Friends of the Oceano Dunes meeting will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Kern River Golf Course picnic area near Lake Ming.
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04-07-2002, 11:08 AM
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Strong show for Pismo
By KERRY CAVANAUGH, Californian staff writer
e-mail: kcavanaugh@bakersfield.com
Saturday April 06, 2002, 10:46:00 PM
Several hundred off-road enthusiasts gathered near Lake Ming Saturday afternoon to show support for the Oceano Dunes -- the only state beach allowing vehicles to drive on the sand.
The future of the popular park is uncertain because of charges that visitors and vehicles are accelerating the decline of a threatened bird, the western snowy plover.
Event organizers said they will challenge any plans to close the dunes.
"We're in this fight for the long haul," Friends of the Oceano Dunes leader Jim Suty told the crowd.
The dunes debate is playing out in the courtroom and political arena. Meeting organizers sought to raise money for the Friends legal fund and galvanize support to keep the dunes open to vehicles.
More than half of the dunes visitors are San Joaquin Valley residents.
There was plenty of support Saturday among the attendees -- many of whom wore T-shirts of favorite off-road parks around the state.
Bakersfield residents Chuck MacKinnon said outside of work, off-road riding is his life.
He's been going to the Oceano Dunes, commonly called Pismo, with his family since childhood.
"I've watched them close more and more" of the park, he said. "I'd hoped my kids would be able to do what I did as a kid."
He worries that may not be possible because of groups seeking to close the park to vehicles.
The Sierra Club sued the state in November for failing to protect the plover and two other endangered species at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.
The club's suit came after reports that just two plovers out of nearly 70 hatched chicks survived in 2001. Club members argue vehicles should be kept out of the park during the plover's breeding season from March through September until the bird population recovers.
A hearing date on the federal court case has not been set.
Friends of the Oceano Dunes is trying to intervene in that case, Suty said.
The California Coastal Commission is also scrutinizing the park. The park's permit comes up for renewal in May, and commission staff is expected to recommend more restrictions on vehicles during the bird's breeding season.
Meeting attendees said they were frustrated at the increased attempts to close off-road vehicle areas across the state. Oceano Dunes, which stretches 5.5 miles, is just another example, they said.
"It's public land," said Bakersfield resident Bob Prewett. "Nobody wants to destroy it."
Strong show for Pismo
By KERRY CAVANAUGH, Californian staff writer
e-mail: kcavanaugh@bakersfield.com
Saturday April 06, 2002, 10:46:00 PM
Several hundred off-road enthusiasts gathered near Lake Ming Saturday afternoon to show support for the Oceano Dunes -- the only state beach allowing vehicles to drive on the sand.
The future of the popular park is uncertain because of charges that visitors and vehicles are accelerating the decline of a threatened bird, the western snowy plover.
Event organizers said they will challenge any plans to close the dunes.
"We're in this fight for the long haul," Friends of the Oceano Dunes leader Jim Suty told the crowd.
The dunes debate is playing out in the courtroom and political arena. Meeting organizers sought to raise money for the Friends legal fund and galvanize support to keep the dunes open to vehicles.
More than half of the dunes visitors are San Joaquin Valley residents.
There was plenty of support Saturday among the attendees -- many of whom wore T-shirts of favorite off-road parks around the state.
Bakersfield residents Chuck MacKinnon said outside of work, off-road riding is his life.
He's been going to the Oceano Dunes, commonly called Pismo, with his family since childhood.
"I've watched them close more and more" of the park, he said. "I'd hoped my kids would be able to do what I did as a kid."
He worries that may not be possible because of groups seeking to close the park to vehicles.
The Sierra Club sued the state in November for failing to protect the plover and two other endangered species at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.
The club's suit came after reports that just two plovers out of nearly 70 hatched chicks survived in 2001. Club members argue vehicles should be kept out of the park during the plover's breeding season from March through September until the bird population recovers.
A hearing date on the federal court case has not been set.
Friends of the Oceano Dunes is trying to intervene in that case, Suty said.
The California Coastal Commission is also scrutinizing the park. The park's permit comes up for renewal in May, and commission staff is expected to recommend more restrictions on vehicles during the bird's breeding season.
Meeting attendees said they were frustrated at the increased attempts to close off-road vehicle areas across the state. Oceano Dunes, which stretches 5.5 miles, is just another example, they said.
"It's public land," said Bakersfield resident Bob Prewett. "Nobody wants to destroy it."
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