The Oceano Dunes District just got a grant that will help preserve plants and animals that are only found in these iconic dunes.
The dunes take up 18 miles along the Central Coast and are the largest of their kind in the state. Many visitors and locals say they go to the beach just for the dunes.
“I've been coming here ever since I was a little boy,” said Randal Gibson, who vacations at a nearby RV park.
“I feel like a lot of people come here for the dunes,” said Grover Beach resident Stephanie Lacalle. “Just being able to explore them, and the kids like to run around on them, people like to ATV. I think it brings people to this area.”
150 acres across seven miles of these dunes are going to look different in the next few years.
With a $980,000 grant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, starting this fall, the Oceano Dunes District is working with the Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District to bring back native plants and animals to the dunes.
“What we hope to do is by controlling these invasives and installing native plants like this lupine and other plants to really restore the dunes and restore this important ecosystem function,” said Ronnie Glick, Senior Environmental Scientist for the Oceano Dunes District.
One of the plants that has to go is the ice plant. This fast-growing plant takes over the landscape it’s in and was originally planted in the area to keep the dunes from moving.
Some visitors say they don’t want to see the plant taken out.
“I see the ice plant as something that is permanent,” Gibson said. “It helps make the dunes permanent. We come out of the RV park so the dunes staying where they are is a good idea for us.”
Glick said the invasive plants were used to manage nature hundreds of years ago. Now, priorities have changed.
“In State Parks, we really like to facilitate natural processes,” he said. “There may be times where the dunes move a little bit, where you get a little bit of sand in the places that you don't want it to be but that's really part of a healthy, thriving dune ecosystem.”
