May 8, 2002
Contact Gordon Hensley or Babak Naficy at (805) 781-9932

COASTAL COMMISSION FAILS TO PROTECT IMPERILED SPECIES AT OCEANO DUNES
Inaction Affirms Importance of Lawsuit Filed By Environmental Defense Center and Sierra Club

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA - Today, the California Coastal Commission failed to take any action to amend the state's permit at the Oceano Dunes to protect the Western Snowy Plover and other imperiled species, highlighting the importance of the lawsuit filed by the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) and the Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club last year. The Coastal Commission was considering renewal of the State Parks Department's Coastal Development Permit for the Oceano Dunes State Recreational Vehicular Area (ODSRVA) at their May meeting in Santa Rosa. The Coastal Commission renewed the permit, without improving the permit conditions to better protect species from off highway vehicle use.
"We are very disappointed that the Coastal Commission did nothing to protect species and sensitive habitat at the Dunes today," said Gordon Hensley, Environmental Analyst for the Environmental Defense Center. "The agency representatives made it clear that the State is turning a blind eye to coastal resource issues at Oceano Dunes. Today's action affirms that filing our lawsuit to protect threatened and endangered species at the Dunes was the right thing to do."

EDC and Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the State Parks Department in November 2001 as part of their continued effort to save the endangered birds and fish from the Department's poor management of the ODSVRA in San Luis Obispo County. The ODSVRA provides critical habitat for the threatened Western Snowy Plover and provides important habitat for the endangered California least tern. Arroyo Grande Creek, which drains into the Pacific Ocean from within the ODSVRA boundaries, provides critical habitat for the threatened southern steelhead.

The lawsuit charges the Parks Department with causing "take" of these listed species by permitting hundreds of thousands of off-road vehicles annually to drive throughout the beach dune system killing federally protected species, destroying their habitat, interfering with breeding and foraging patterns, and otherwise harming the protected species that occupy the park. Because the Parks Department currently does not have an Incidental Take Permit, its management and operation of the ODSVRA violates the Endangered Species Act.

Up to 4,300 vehicles are allowed to use the Park daily, and during holiday weekends tens of thousands of visitors use the Dunes to ride off-road vehicles and to camp. The Parks Department's continued failure to manage ongoing and predictable harm to these sensitive species has resulted in the deaths of protected species, including the loss of an entire generation of snowy plover chicks this year.

The Environmental Defense Center is a non-profit, public interest environmental law firm that represents citizen groups along California's Central Coast in enforcing local, state and federal environmental laws. The Sierra Club is a national membership organization whose mission includes environmental protection and the responsible use of natural resources. The Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club has over 2000 members on the Central Coast. Please contact EDC at (805) 781-9932 or Sierra Club at (805) 773-0233.