The use of the Oceano Dunes offroad vehicular area has remained a lively topic of discussion locally. Sun Jan. 15 and 22 opinion sections contained a couple of pieces opposing the use of the area by off-road vehicles, and the topic pops up frequently in often heated debate (“Oceano deserves a vehicle-free beach,” and “Restore Oceano’s natural defenses”).
The vehicle use area comprises roughly a third of the long stretch of beach that runs from Pismo Beach to Point Sal. The majority of the beach is, for the most part, inaccessible by road and in a wild state. Historically, for a hundred years, the beach was routinely used by vehicles, with modern use restricted to the 7 or so miles of the park.
Our strong local winds created the dunes, and you can often see a plume of dust rising from the entire length of the beach, not just the vehicular area. Opposition to vehicular use of the beach was originally based on the theory that vehicle use created finely ground crystalline silica dust, which was dangerous to the downwind communities of Oceano, Nipomo, Santa Maria, and Guadalupe. Although the SLO County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) originally claimed that all of the wind-borne dust was unhealthy crystalline silica dust, a later study by Dr. Lynn Russel of Scripps Institute showed that it actually only constituted 14 percent of the dust.
Currently, opposition is centered on environmental impacts, such as damage to the plover and plant life. A lot of areas have been fenced off to address those concerns.
Obviously, any human use of an area is bound to impact the natural native environment. Our entire region was once wild and pristine. If you believe that an existing use of an area should be eliminated and the area “returned to nature,” are you prepared to live in a traditional Chumash shelter and to give up your coffee shops? Or is natural restoration just for others?
As with many of our most fractious issues, the real fight just boils down to the culture wars and blue vs. red tribalism.
Those who oppose vehicular use tend to be environmentally oriented suburban liberals who cannot say the terms “internal combustion” or “MAGA” without spitting. Many came to SLO from elsewhere to attend Cal Poly and stayed.
Those who support vehicular use tend to be from more rural areas and Central Valley towns and lean more conservative. They tend to like large 4×4 pickup trucks or Jeeps, may have an ATV or motorcycles for everyone in their family, and have immense RVs or camping trailers. Overall, they represent an enthusiastic embrace of the motor culture rejected by the opponents.
They also display cultural traits that liberals find off-putting, like flying American or Mexican flags at their campsites or on their vehicles or displaying signs endorsing MAGA, Trump, or the Second Amendment. All in all, there is a lot to annoy the liberal environmental warrior.
There is land enough for both groups. Those who prefer a remote, quiet, untouched beach have the rest of the local coast readily available for their use, from Oso Flaco and the Guadalupe Dunes southward, which is roughly twice the size of the vehicular use area used by many more people. Mechanical disturbance of the dunes quickly “heals” in the wind, and plants and birds soon re-establish themselves.
Is it fair and reasonable to eliminate the enjoyment of the hundreds of thousands who currently use the area, just to accommodate the relative few who are capable of walking a number of miles on soft sand in search of an isolated and a pristine environment?
The hundreds of thousands of people who prefer vehicular use are also residents of California, pay taxes, and contribute to the local economy. They vastly outnumber the people who use the remote, natural areas of the coast. They’re also entitled to a “playground” to pursue their interests.
You need to learn to share with those who have just as much right to the beach as you do. You are not entitled to a private seaside naturalists club where the “undesirables” are excluded. You often preach “inclusion” and the acceptance of other lifestyles. Now is the time to practice it.
John Donegan is a retired attorney in Pismo Beach who confesses to occasionally driving on the dunes in his old Jeep. Send a response for publication to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in March 5 – March 12, 2026.