|
|
Tell Some Friends About This Page! |
Oceano Dunes Sensitive dunes, wildlife need protection
Why are the dunes important? The dunes are home to numerous endangered and threatened animals, birds and plants, including the western snowy plover and the least tern. Fewer than 1,000 snowy plovers are left in existence. Arroyo Grande Creek supports steelhead trout. The fresh water lakes at Oso Flaco contain rare shrimp and support a vast array of wildlife.
The Sierra Club has been working in San Luis Obispo to protect the Oceano Dunes and the snowy plover from extinction. Off-road vehicles and intense camping have been destroying this public area and the sensitive habitat. The use must be regulated in some reasonable way in order to save what is left of Oceano's rare and endangered habitat. Despite our efforts to work cooperatively, the off-road vehicle community remains steadfastly opposed to any meaningful regulation at Oceano. Now they are working in Sacramento to win permission to legally (and literally) drive the snowy plover into extinction. Up to Top |
Where are the Oceano Dunes? Just below the city of Pismo Beach in San Luis Obispo County, on California's central coast, lies one of the world's largest sand dune structures, the 10,000-acre Oceano Dunes.
How are the dunes threatened? Unfortunately, the beach along this unique stretch of coastline is used as an off-road vehicle playground and campground, with hundreds of thousands of cars and motorcycles of all types annually crossing the creek and tearing apart habitat every single day of the year. Last year, 66 of 68 snowy plover hatchlings born within this chaotic atmosphere died within weeks of being born. At that rate, the snowy plover will be extinct, perhaps within a decade.