Update: Oceano Dunes state park to stay closed after Endangered Species Act violation
Update, 10:30 am:
The California Coastal Commission announced Wednesday morning that it reached a mutual agreement with the California Department of State Parks at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.
State Parks agreed to enter the consent order and to abide by the terms and conditions set forth in the order to protect Western snowy plovers and California least terns by keeping a portion of the park closed until Oct. 1. The agency also agreed to cease activities that could disrupt the birds’ nesting.
“California State Parks and the Coastal Commission are actively working to ensure the safety of visitors and to adopt protective measures for the threatened western snowy plover,” the department said in an email to The Tribune on Wednesday morning. “To achieve these goals, State Parks will continue to restrict (off-highway vehicle) access through October 1, 2020 to Oceano Dunes.
“In the long term, the state continues to work with local, state and federal agencies to address long-standing concerns about air quality, conservation and public access to Oceano Dunes.”
Original story:
The California Coastal Commission has ordered State Parks to keep the Oceano Dunes closed to vehicle use and camping until the end of September, after the end of western snowy plover nesting season.
This order comes after State Parks received a cease-and-desist letter by the Coastal Commission in early June to stop interfering with the nesting of snowy plovers and California least terns, violating the federal Endangered Species Act.
Western snowy plovers are among of the most threatened shorebirds in North America, while California least terns are listed as endangered under federal law. Both species are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
California State Parks closed vehicle access to the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, including Oso Flaco Lake and Pismo State Beach, in late March in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Since then, plovers and terns have expanded their nesting habitats into areas previously used by off-road riders.
According to the Coastal Commission, State Parks interfered with the plovers’ nesting area by grading, installing mylar flagging and fencing, scuffing out nesting “scrapes” made by plovers before nesting, and moving and directing plovers to enclosed areas.
While some of these measures were done with the intention to help protect snowy plovers from vehicle traffic, they were done without permits, violating the Coastal Act and the San Luis Obispo County Local Coastal Program, the commission said.
However, State Parks and the Coastal Commission have not been able to come to an agreement that State Parks will stop unpermitted activities until the appropriate permits have been secured.
That prompted Coastal Commission executive director John Ainsworth to send State Parks a letter on July 3 warning of his intent to issue an executive director cease and desist order (EDCDO).
“We continue to hope that you will agree to cease the unpermitted activities until proper authorization is in place, in which case we can structure the order as a ‘consent’ EDCDO,” he wrote. “However, if we cannot come to agreement, I plan to issue the EDCDO unilaterally.”
The order would require State Parks to close the Oceano Dunes park to camping and vehicle use south of mile post 3 — the area currently used by the plovers and terns — until the end of September.
Plovers typically nest past mile post 6, and State Parks has seasonal fencing to protect these areas, according to Jeff Miller, senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. However, he said he’s frequently spotted plovers outside of the protected areas during the park’s closure to vehicle traffic.
In a recent report, Miller noted that State Parks fenced off access south of mile post 4.5 to marker 6, and signs were posted that instructed visitors to keep off the fore dunes. He reported seeing 54 snowy plovers and six chicks north of marker 4.5 — all outside of protective fencing.
“While in the short term, (the dunes) should remain closed until the end of the nesting season, we are trying to stop off-roading permanently,” Miller said. “You have nests and young birds that can’t fly yet. You bring dune buggies back and you’ll have a massacre of these young birds.”
The Coastal Commission order would also require state park officials to cease grading, scuffing out of nesting scapes, placement of mylar flags and beach grooming activities, and limit the use of vehicles by State Parks at the Oceano Dunes.
“This order will serve to protect critical coastal resources in the short term while we continue to seek longer term solutions to address Coastal Act concerns at ODSVRA,” Ainsworth wrote in the letter. ”The order can also serve to confirm those areas in which we have reached agreement, such as the cessation of ‘scuffing’ of Western snowy plover nests, as well as provide authorization for certain actions that we agree are critical in the short term to protect coastal resources, such as the placement of appropriate exclosure fencing for plover and California least tern, when necessary.”
State Parks had not responded to a request for comment as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.
This story was originally published July 7, 2020 at 1:04 PM.