Federal judge rules Oceano Dunes violated Endangered Species Act 

The California Department of Parks and Recreation violated the Endangered Species Act after off-road vehicles mowed down snowy plovers on the agency’s watch, a federal judge ruled in response to a five-year legal battle.

The U.S. District Court decision caps off a 2020 lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity against State Parks. 

The center alleged that State Parks’ authorization for off-road vehicles like dune buggies to drive in Western snowy plover habitat at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicle Recreation Area (ODSVRA) led to the illegal “take”—harassing, wounding, and killing—of the shorebirds.

“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 ODSVRA and the snowy plovers that travel to the area occupied by park users,’” the judge’s ruling said. “Indeed, defendant largely does not dispute the many examples of ‘takes’ of snowy plovers provided by plaintiff, including specifically by vehicle collisions.”

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, State Parks also received warnings about its violation of the Endangered Species Act from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2016. 

From 2016 to 2019, an average of four to six snowy plovers were found flattened in vehicle tracks each year at Oceano Dunes.

In 2020, State Parks said it stopped discouraging snowy plovers from nesting in open vehicle riding areas of the Oceano Dunes after local conservationists and the California Coastal Commission stepped in.

Center for Biological Diversity Senior Conservation Advocate Jeff Miller told New Times that State Parks’ annual reports showed that at least 18 snowy plovers were found dead—crushed in tire tracks or run over—between 2019 and 2024.

“It is important to note that State Parks does not do protocol surveys for dead plovers, just opportunistically collects them for necropsy when their staff and biological monitors find them,” Miller said via email. “Also, most plovers that are killed are quickly scavenged or removed by scavengers. These are mortalities we know about—the actual toll is likely much, much greater.”

State Parks started working on a habitat conservation plan in the early 2000s to get incidental take coverage for snowy plovers. But that document remains unfinished. Since then, the population of breeding adult snowy plovers in the dunes ballooned from 30 in 2002 to more than 200 birds in 2024—many of which are flushed from the vehicle tracks in which they roost.

To Miller, the conservation plan, with its reported insufficient mitigation and conservation measures, isn’t a blueprint to protect 1,370 acres of snowy plover habitat from off-roading damage but rather a “dune buggy conservation plan.”

“State Parks sought excessive levels of take—asking for a permit that would allow them to legally kill 62 snowy plover adults and juveniles, 114 chicks, and 159 eggs over a five-year period,” he said. “The Fish and Wildlife Service could not have legally issued them an HCP [habitat conservation plan] and incidental take permit since their plan was not even close to meeting the standards under the Endangered Species Act.”

State Parks wrote a draft conservation plan in 2020, but its details weren’t known to the public until three days after the federal ruling. 

State Parks released the 600-page document on Nov. 24 for public review. View the draft plan on oceanoduneshcp.com. Email comments to comment@oceanoduneshcp.com or send written comments to Ronnie Glick, senior environmental scientist, California Department Parks and Recreation, Oceano Dunes District, 340 James Way, suite 270, Pismo Beach, CA 93449.

The public comment meeting will take place on Zoom on Jan. 13, 2026, from 6 to 8 p.m. 

The new plan covers 5,005 acres and addresses federally threatened species like the snowy plover and the California red-legged frog; federally endangered species like the least tern, the tidewater goby, the marsh sandwort, La Graciosa thistle, Nipomo Mesa lupine, and Gambel’s watercress; proposed federally threatened species such as the Southwestern pond turtle and the Western spadefoot; and the surf thistle and the beach spectaclepod—two plant species listed under the California Endangered Species Act.

“The HCP provides the basis for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service … issuance of a 25-year permit authorizing incidental take of listed species under FESA [federal Endangered Species Act],” the plan said. “Separately, State Parks will also be seeking take authorization from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife … for species listed under the California Endangered Species Act.”

State Parks declined to respond to New Times’ request for comment because of pending litigation.

The recent federal ruling requires both groups to work together. The center wants State Parks to agree to measures that eliminate the illegal take of snowy plovers.

“There is no immediate requirement until we and State Parks agree upon … a remedy,” Miller said. “If State Parks refuses to agree on a reasonable remedy, we can ask the court for an injunction on off-road activities that kill or harm plovers. There are currently no penalties, but the court could impose very large fines for each illegal take of protected species.” ∆

This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 7, 2025.