Coastal Commission, Preserve Oceano Dunes

Please preserve and protect the Oceano Dunes. Please support and implement your staff’s recommendations for the Oceano Dunes; amend the State Park’s Coastal Development Permit to bar night riding and all mechanized vehicles (including e-bikes) access and driving across Arroyo Grande Creek; preserve and protect the snowy plover and leave the Oso Flaco Lake area as it is. Please start the clock now on the phase-out of OHV activity.
The Oceano Dunes will continue to offer unique experiences (for residents and visitors) such as walking, birding, and horseback riding; the kinds of activities that are for the greater good for a greater number of people and, especially the flora and fauna that this unique and beautiful habitat supports.
Please dispense with the fears and economic arguments against doing this, which were rebutted during the park’s closure to vehicles from March to October of 2020. Tourism continued, and supported the local economy, as it does the length of California’s coast.
The residents of Oceano who try to walk on the beach, with OHV activity, do so with greater risk. As a resident of San Luis Obispo County, I would like to visit, walk and explore the Oceano Dunes but not while the habitat destructive OHV use continues to be permitted. Many other people feel the same.
The unhealthy air from the dunes denuded of vegetation by off-road vehicle activity, continues to stretch from Nipomo to Guadalupe.
All of this is an environmental injustice and a travesty of stewardship. You know this, and you know State Parks is not fixing the problem and has not heeded your directive to come up with a plan to adequately protect the environmentally sensitive habitat. It is past time to hold them accountable.
Watson Gooch
Los Osos