Crowdog
02-21-2004, 08:08 AM
Coastal commission continues permit to protect dune birds
Regulators also seek to expand fenced-off areas for plovers, terns
The Associated Press
February 21, 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SAN DIEGO -- The California Coastal Commission voted Friday to reaffirm a permit that fences off parts of the Oceano Dunes state park to protect endangered and threatened birds from off-road enthusiasts and campers.
The commission also decided to draft a letter to urge state parks officials to do more to protect the threatened western snowy plover and the endangered California least tern, including implementing a scientific panel’s recommendation that snowy plover nesting areas be protected year-round.
"You can’t recover a species by only protecting it during the nesting season," Commissioner Sara Wan said.
The beachfront park, south of Pismo Beach in San Luis Obispo County, was bought by the state in the early 1970s and designated a state vehicular recreation area. Since 1982, the Coastal Commission has annually reviewed the permit that erected fencing to protect the threatened plover.
State Parks Director Ruth Coleman told the commissioners during their meeting in San Diego that her department seeks to balance species protection with use of the park for vehicles, as she is required by law to do. Oceano Dunes is the only state park where vehicles may be driven on the beach.
Currently, about 1,200 acres are open to off-road vehicles and 455 acres -- mainly along the south end of the park and in patches along its center -- are blocked off as protected habitat, she said.
Between 2002 and 2003, the number of snowy plover nests at the Oceano Dunes jumped from 35 to 95. The number of nests that produced at least one chick grew from 25 to 63. And at least 107 of the 162 of the chicks born in 2003 survived to fledgling age.
The success rate is among the highest for any location in the State Park system, she said.
However, the Coastal Commission’s staff report indicated there are serious problems with a Technical Review Team set up three years ago to monitor Oceano Dunes and advise park officials on how best to manage it.
The team is paralyzed by deep divisions between members who represent the environmental community and off-road interests. The staff report blamed some members’ "unwillingness" to reduce recreational opportunities for the team’s inaction on recommendations from a scientific subcommittee on how best to protect the birds.
The scientific panel wants to expand the protected areas and to keep fencing in place beyond the nesting season.
Commission Chairman Mike Reilly suggested that in the future, it would be more effective to disband the review team and have park officials work directly with the scientific panel.
Jim Suty, president of the Friends of Oceano Dunes and a member of the review team, said the need for recreational areas was being forgotten, along with the impact beach tourism has on scores of businesses. Park use has grown from 700,000 visitors in 1982 to nearly 1.5 million visitors now, while the area available for vehicle use is diminishing.
David Hubbard, a lawyer for the Friends of Oceano Dunes, a group that opposes further restrictions, called for the commission to end its permit and allow the state parks department to lead management of the park.
"Oceano Dunes is not a bird sanctuary despite what some people may want it to be," Hubbard said.
But Mark Massara, director of the California Coastal Program for the Sierra Club, said business development should not come at the expense of the rare birds, three of which were killed by vehicles over the past year.
http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/state/20040221043815.shtml#
Regulators also seek to expand fenced-off areas for plovers, terns
The Associated Press
February 21, 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SAN DIEGO -- The California Coastal Commission voted Friday to reaffirm a permit that fences off parts of the Oceano Dunes state park to protect endangered and threatened birds from off-road enthusiasts and campers.
The commission also decided to draft a letter to urge state parks officials to do more to protect the threatened western snowy plover and the endangered California least tern, including implementing a scientific panel’s recommendation that snowy plover nesting areas be protected year-round.
"You can’t recover a species by only protecting it during the nesting season," Commissioner Sara Wan said.
The beachfront park, south of Pismo Beach in San Luis Obispo County, was bought by the state in the early 1970s and designated a state vehicular recreation area. Since 1982, the Coastal Commission has annually reviewed the permit that erected fencing to protect the threatened plover.
State Parks Director Ruth Coleman told the commissioners during their meeting in San Diego that her department seeks to balance species protection with use of the park for vehicles, as she is required by law to do. Oceano Dunes is the only state park where vehicles may be driven on the beach.
Currently, about 1,200 acres are open to off-road vehicles and 455 acres -- mainly along the south end of the park and in patches along its center -- are blocked off as protected habitat, she said.
Between 2002 and 2003, the number of snowy plover nests at the Oceano Dunes jumped from 35 to 95. The number of nests that produced at least one chick grew from 25 to 63. And at least 107 of the 162 of the chicks born in 2003 survived to fledgling age.
The success rate is among the highest for any location in the State Park system, she said.
However, the Coastal Commission’s staff report indicated there are serious problems with a Technical Review Team set up three years ago to monitor Oceano Dunes and advise park officials on how best to manage it.
The team is paralyzed by deep divisions between members who represent the environmental community and off-road interests. The staff report blamed some members’ "unwillingness" to reduce recreational opportunities for the team’s inaction on recommendations from a scientific subcommittee on how best to protect the birds.
The scientific panel wants to expand the protected areas and to keep fencing in place beyond the nesting season.
Commission Chairman Mike Reilly suggested that in the future, it would be more effective to disband the review team and have park officials work directly with the scientific panel.
Jim Suty, president of the Friends of Oceano Dunes and a member of the review team, said the need for recreational areas was being forgotten, along with the impact beach tourism has on scores of businesses. Park use has grown from 700,000 visitors in 1982 to nearly 1.5 million visitors now, while the area available for vehicle use is diminishing.
David Hubbard, a lawyer for the Friends of Oceano Dunes, a group that opposes further restrictions, called for the commission to end its permit and allow the state parks department to lead management of the park.
"Oceano Dunes is not a bird sanctuary despite what some people may want it to be," Hubbard said.
But Mark Massara, director of the California Coastal Program for the Sierra Club, said business development should not come at the expense of the rare birds, three of which were killed by vehicles over the past year.
http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/state/20040221043815.shtml#