OXNARD : Vehicles are Threatening Tern Habitat

More and more people are driving illegally across the nesting areas of the endangered California least tern while local law enforcement officials stand idle, the president of the Los Padres chapter of the Sierra Club said Tuesday.

Alan Sanders said he reported as many as 20 license plates of trespassers in the Ormond Beach area near Oxnard to officials in each of the past several days.

“On Sunday people were hauling dune buggies and three-wheelers down there,” he said. “I called Oxnard police . . . waited all day and basically they never showed up.

“It looks like we’ve lost two or three nests, which is extremely important,” Sanders said. “The police told me today they were not going to respond to any more calls.”

Oxnard Police Lt. Jaime Skeeters said Tuesday that reports of trespassers at Ormond Beach take a lower priority than other crimes, but said police would respond as time permits.

“If there was a call of a disturbance down there, we will send an officer down there when one is available,” Skeeters said. “If we find somebody down there we will take the appropriate action.”

Skeeters said violators would most likely be issued a citation if found to be trespassing. “I wish we had more officers we could send around there,” he said.

Sanders said the failure of several agencies to screen the area from vehicle traffic contributes to the ongoing problem.

“If we rely on these big bureaucracies to save Ventura County’s endangered species, it’s probably not going to happen,” he said.