Court Reaffirms Ruling Against Off-Roading At Oceano Dunes Threatened Species Habitats

OCEANO, Calif. (KEYT) - A federal court has reaffirmed its ruling from last November against off-roading at Oceano Dunes.

The ruling is in favor of a lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity.

It states that continued permitted activity in the area is still increasing the number of snowy plover deaths, a federally protected species.

A conservation effort in the early 2000s from state park officials to secure Endangered Species Act incidental "take" permits for off-roaders remains incomplete to this day.

As a result, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has issued a reaffirmation against any future permits for off-road vehicular use in protected habitat areas.

Surfrider Foundation's San Luis Obispo chapter president Charles Varney says the campaign for a two-mile stretch of Vehicle Free Beach is over four decades old.

Spokesperson for Friends of Oceano Dunes Jim Suty says ATV use at Oceano Dunes is a tradition that stretches back to the creation of the vehicle itself, and is a main staple of Oceano's economy.

The Center for Biological Diversity’s lawsuit was filed in 2020 subsequent to formal notice of Endangered Species Act violations to State Parks beginning in 2017.

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