NOAA has opened a formal review of how California manages its coast — including the Coastal Commission's track record on public access and recreation. This is a real opportunity to put Oceano Dunes on the federal record.

For more than 50 years, Oceano Dunes SVRA has provided managed, responsible OHV recreation while supporting local jobs and businesses. Despite proven conservation tools already in place, the Coastal Commission has continued pushing to phase out vehicle access.

Comments are due August 22, 2026. Take two minutes to tell NOAA that public access and responsible recreation deserve a seat at the table.

ACTION ALERT: Your Voice. Your Access. Your Dunes.

I respectfully submit this comment in support of NOAA's review of the California Coastal Management Program and the California Coastal Commission's implementation of the Coastal Zone Management Act.

California's coast belongs to all Californians. While protecting coastal resources is critically important, both the California Coastal Act and the federal Coastal Zone Management Act recognize that environmental protection must be balanced with public access, recreational opportunities, and coordination among public agencies. I am concerned that the California Coastal Commission has increasingly prioritized restrictions over balanced management, resulting in the unnecessary loss of public access to California's coast.

The issue before NOAA is not whether environmental protection should occur, but whether environmental protection and public access are being balanced as Congress intended when it enacted the Coastal Zone Management Act. This review is an important opportunity to determine whether California's Coastal Management Program gives equal consideration to conservation, public access, and recreation, as required under federal law.

The Coastal Commission's management of Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA) illustrates these broader concerns. While this review covers the Commission's overall administration of the CCMP, the Commission's actions at Oceano Dunes are a well-documented example of how environmental protection, public access, and recreation have become increasingly unbalanced — and why NOAA's review is timely and necessary.

For more than five decades, Oceano Dunes SVRA has provided responsible public recreation while supporting local businesses, tourism, and affordable coastal access for families statewide. Rather than working collaboratively with California State Parks to balance environmental protection with continued recreation, the Coastal Commission voted to phase out and ultimately close vehicle recreation at Oceano Dunes despite proven management tools available to protect natural resources. That decision raises real questions about whether sufficient weight has been given to the Coastal Act's equally important mandate to maximize public access and protect recreation.

California State Parks has invested substantial resources in habitat restoration, species protection, scientific monitoring, adaptive management, enforcement, and public education at Oceano Dunes — proof that environmental stewardship and responsible recreation can coexist when agencies work collaboratively. Despite that, the Commission has continued to support policies reducing vehicle access, raising legitimate questions about whether balanced management was ever really on the table.

The Commission's approach also raises consistency concerns. Other forms of beach recreation are generally managed through education, enforcement, seasonal restrictions, and adaptive management that allow continued public use. Motorized recreation, by contrast, has increasingly faced restrictions and closures even where extensive mitigation and monitoring have succeeded. That disparity deserves careful review.

Oceano Dunes is also one of California's most accessible coastal recreation experiences. Older adults, people with mobility limitations, disabled veterans, and families with young children — anyone who can't comfortably cross long stretches of soft sand — can experience the coastline through responsible vehicle access. As NOAA conducts this review, it should consider whether decisions that substantially reduce vehicle access also reduce meaningful coastal access for the Californians who rely on it.

Public access is a fundamental principle of both the California Coastal Act and the CZMA. Recreational opportunities — including responsible vehicle access where appropriate — should be managed responsibly, not eliminated through incremental restriction.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate. I respectfully ask that NOAA carefully examine whether the Coastal Commission's implementation of the CCMP remains consistent with the CZMA's intent, and whether it continues to provide the balanced approach to conservation, public access, and recreation that federal law requires.