UC San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography claims that “the dune-derived mineral dust [in the plume over the Nipomo Mesa] is … caused by natural forces (i.e., wind) rather than human activities.” Its author publicly stated that ” … it’s hard to justify reducing vehicle usage.” This is the real agenda of the Scripps study: advocate against reducing vehicle usage on Oceano beach and dunes.
This study is a biased waste of time and money. The California Coastal Commission did not ban vehicles exclusively because of the dust but also because of ESHA (environmentally sensitive habitat area) protection and environmental and tribal justice concerns.
All of the off-roading area is designated ESHA by the Coastal Act. The only uses allowed in ESHA are those dependent on the habitat to be able to occur. Vehicular uses are not resource-dependent. They can, and do, take place outside of sensitive habitat areas.
Vehicular use directly affects underserved communities adjacent to the park. The beach of Oceano is given over to vehicles, and general non-vehicular beach activities are almost impossible. Pier Avenue, the heart of the Oceano beach community, shares few of the types of uses and development typical of thriving beach-fronting towns that can form the engine for economic prosperity.
The Northern Chumash do not support continued OHV use because the park includes sacred ancestral lands that should not, in any circumstance, be used in these ways.
There is much more than dust to justify reducing vehicular usage on Oceano beach and dunes.
Lucia Casalinuovo
president
Oceano Beach Community Association
This article appears in Year in Review 2021.
Most commentary from the folks who claim to revere science, and who ceaselessly mock those who they charge “deny” science. Here, when the “science” they claimed supported their position falls apart, they just dismiss it as being of little importance. Now, they claim vehicles in the dunes somehow suppress the economic development and prosperity of Oceano, despite the fact that nearby Pismo Beach and Grover Beach manage quite well. And, they forget that the vehicle use occupies only a relatively small portion of the vast expanse of dunes stretching from Pismo Beach to Pt. Sal, most of which are maintained in a natural state. The vehicular use area is used by hundreds of thousands of tax paying California families who are entitled to use and enjoy a portion of the beach
I am a published scientist, engineer, and researcher who agrees with the Scripps study. I have more than 30 years of applied science experience in the field, designed and engineered atmospheric testing equipment, and designed and conducted over 300 environmental studies. I live in Oceano and enjoy the Dunes most of the year, even in naturally high windy conditions. I do not ride off road vehicles. Lucia is known to be reluctant to accept new information outside of her poorly constructed lay recusals. Her reprehensible behavior and ugly reproach towards invited guests and speakers from the environmental science community is well documented in recorded public meetings. This article was not helpful to anyone, save Lucia Casalinuovo’s unchecked pride.