Marines Oppose Ecological Preserve for Camp Pendleton

Marine officials say a proposed ecological preserve along four miles of beach on the base here would interrupt training activities.

The California Department of Fish and Game is considering Camp Pendleton for one of four preserves it must establish by Jan. 1, 1994, for fisheries management research. All human activity except the research would be prohibited in the preserves.

Camp Pendleton is the only area in Southern California being considered for one of the four preserves in the state, officials said. The preserves are required under Proposition 132, which California voters approved in 1990.

Col. Clifford Myers, a community planning and liaison officer at Camp Pendleton, said all 17 miles of coastline on the base are used in training Marines.

The proposed preserve’s boundaries tentatively would extend about four miles southward from San Onofre State Beach and one-half mile out to sea from the high tide line, said Rob Collins, a senior marine biologist with the Department of Fish and Game.

Although the boundaries could be modified, the Camp Pendleton site is being considered as a preserve because it is the only one in the region with a sandy beach, and halibut are believed to live offshore, Collins said.