Off-Roaders Locked Out of Wetlands

In an effort to limit damage that off-road vehicles inflict on the wetlands at Ormond Beach, the city of Oxnard has reinforced a vehicle barrier, increased police patrols and approved higher fines for trespassers.

The city adopted the measures over the past month, after meeting with representatives of the California Coastal Commission, the state Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state Coastal Conservancy and the Point Mugu Naval Air Station.

City officials and environmentalists said all-terrain vehicles have caused extensive damage to the wetlands, which are home to hundreds of species of birds and fish.

“The ORVs have been a concern for many years,” said Roma Arburst, chairwoman of the Ormond Beach Observers, an environmental group dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the wetlands. “I am definitely happy with the city’s decision.”

She said the vehicles have rolled over bird nests and have produced engine noise that frightens birds away from their migratory habitat.

The wetlands, which include almost 200 acres of dunes and marshes, are believed to be home to more than 200 species of birds, 35 species of fish and 190 species of vertebrates, including squirrels, opossums, skunks and raccoons, said Cynthia Leake, conservation chairwoman of the Los Padres Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Despite city efforts to keep vehicles off the beach, however, tire tracks crisscrossed the muddy terrain on a recent visit. In addition, empty beer bottles, worn furniture and rusty appliances littered the sand.

Ormond Beach extends along about 2 miles of coastline, bounded on the south by Point Mugu Naval Air Station Pacific Missile Test Range and on the north by the city of Port Hueneme.

The adoption of the measures coincide with the start of the nesting season for the California least tern, a small species of sea gull found in the wetlands. The tern is on the federal and state endangered species lists.

City officials and environmentalists said they hope the measures have come in time to protect the tern from off-road vehicles.

“I think the ORVs are ruining everything,” Leake said. “They are running over the terns’ nests.”

Oxnard Redevelopment Director Steven L. Kinney said that, for years, a gate has blocked the main access to the beach at Arnold Road. A lock and chain secured the gate and the only access was supposed to be for police and other emergency vehicles, he said.

However, the locks were routinely broken by trespassers, Kinney said. “So we were never able to keep them out.”

Two weeks ago, the city welded the gate shut and arranged for emergency vehicle access through the Southern California Edison generating station, which borders the beach, he said.

“Considering we have the gate welded shut, . . . we have avoided a lot of damage,” Kinney said.

The city also plans to institute routine police patrols of the area, Kinney said. Previously, police only patrolled the area after receiving a complaint.

“So it was possible for people to get down there unobserved,” he said.

Last month, the City Council increased the fine for trespassers to $200 from $50, he said.

Senior Officer Jim Struck said he believes the increased fines and permanent closing of the gate at Arnold Road will serve as a strong deterrent to trespassers driving off-road vehicles.

He said the routine patrols will begin next weekend and added that the welded gate has “so far been absolutely successful” at keeping trespassers from entering the area by way of Arnold Road.

He conceded that a few people could still be driving in at some other point, though Arnold Road had provided the most direct access.