Judge slams California for allowing off-road vehicles at Oceano Dunes

LOS ANGELES (CN) — A federal judge agreed with environmentalists and found the California Department of Parks and Recreation violates the U.S. Endangered Species Act by allowing dune buggies to kill and injure threatened snowy plovers at Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.

U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang in Los Angeles granted summary judgment to the Center for Biological Diversity, which sued State Parks five years ago to curtail the use of off-road vehicles in the dunes and on the beach at the 1,500-acre recreational area on the Central Coast.

“The court’s ruling sends a strong message that California must finally safeguard the federally protected birds it has for so long ignored,” Jeff Miller, a senior conservation advocate at the center, said in a statement. “For decades state officials have let off-road vehicles tear through endangered species habitat at Oceano Dunes, injuring and killing snowy plovers, harassing roosting flocks, and degrading their habitat. This decision makes it clear that such neglect can no longer continue.”

In her decision issued late Thursday, the Joe Biden-appointee noted State Parks has documented incidents in which snowy plovers have been killed and harmed by motorized vehicles at the Oceano Dunes since March 21, 2001.

“Defendant acknowledges it is likely incidental ‘takes’ of snowy plovers occurred over the years despite its best efforts to prevent such events from occurring given the inherent conflicts that exist between users of [Oceano Dunes] and the snowy plovers that travel to the area occupied by park users,” Hwang wrote.

Since State Parks doesn’t have a so-called incidental take permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it is liable for the killing and injuring of the endangered birds by allowing third parties to use off-road vehicles at the recreational area, the judge found.

The snowy plover is a small, sand-colored shorebird which is designated as a threatened species under the ESA. The birds nest and breed at Oceano Dunes between March and September. State Parks operates a natural resources management program to address the impacts to snowy plovers at Oceano Dunes, and the population of breeding adult snowy plovers has increased from approximately 30 breeding adults in 2002 to over 200 in 2024.

The Oceano Dunes Vehicular Recreation Area in southern San Luis Obispo County includes about 1,500 acres of sand dunes and six miles of beachfront. Street-legal vehicles have been allowed to drive on the beach in the northern portion, and the southern portion is also open to off-road vehicles and motorized campers.

A spokesperson for State Parks said the department doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

In a separate state court lawsuit over off-road vehicles at Oceano Dunes, an appellate court found this past March that the California Coastal Commission had overstepped its authority by banning off-road vehicles from driving through Oceano Dunes.

While the commission argued it’s legally obligated to protect environmentally sensitive areas, like the dunes and the threatened snowy plover’s habitat in them, from off-roading vehicles, the appellate court found the ultimate power to outright ban them comes from the San Luis Obispo County government and a coastal planning policy process.

In 2021, the commission had unanimously voted to prohibit off-roading vehicle use at Oceano Dunes by 2024, citing a local Indigenous group’s concerns that its land was being destroyed by off-roaders, air pollution and other problems.

Friends of Oceano Dunes, a group that describes itself as “citizens and business representatives who enjoy the benefits of public access and usage of the Oceano Dunes State Vehicle Recreation Area,” sued the commission in San Luis Obispo Superior Court.

In 2023, a judge agreed with the group and ruled the commission improperly modified a coastal development permit held by California State Parks. The commission appealed the ruling the same year.

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