I appreciate the county Health Commission jumping on the cause of Nipomo Mesa folks who get to breathe sand particles thanks to off-roaders on the Oceano Dunes.

But the panel’s action smacks a bit of unhelpful bandwagoning, the kind of recommendation that lets them be on the record without really offering much in the way of practical solutions.

The commission, in Bob Cuddy’s words, “is urging the Board of Supervisors to take ‘any and all’ steps within its power to revegetate and stabilize the Oceano Dunes state park,” action that Bob logically surmised could lead to some kind of temporary closures in the off-highway vehicle area.

Speakers at Monday’s meeting also assumed this might be the action required to reduce particulate pollution that’s getting blown from the Dunes onto the Mesa.

OK, that’s great.

First off, the Board of Supervisors has no jurisdiction over the OHV. It is controlled by State Parks, so that department would be the one who’s arm needs to be firmly secured and then twisted into a pretzel.

Good luck with that.

Bruce Gibson and Co. can choose to “any and all” themselves all day long if they like — lot of good it will do.

Second, the speciousness of this “revegetation” notion is so obvious it’s clear the idea is nothing more than a smoke screen designed to camouflage a larger goal — eliminating vehicle use of the Dunes altogether.

And remember, I’d generally be happy to see many of these obnoxious vehicles take a long drive off a short beach. See exhibits 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Is there anyone who doesn’t see right through this ploy? 

“No, no … you’ve got it all wrong. We don’t want to close the Dunes to vehicles. We just want to revegetate.”

You know, get out the rakes and trowels and garden a bit. It’ll be fun.

Ohhhhh … that’s all? Sure. OK.

So say we fence off half the OHV area.

Then we get those environmental scientist guys with their big straw-blower to shoot hay all over, before replanting with native grasses and scrub brush.

Then, 10 years later, once the little seedlings have taken root and reclaimed the dunes, once the sand has stabilized and the crust reformed, once the particulate pollution has been reduced … what do we do?

Yippee!

We reopen the rehabilitated area to the off-roaders!

Three months later, we’re back where we started.

Assuming the air pollution study is a bona fide matter that documents a real threat, we would be wise to start moving toot sweet toward some viable solutions that take into account the health concerns of the Mesa residents, the financial concerns of the area businesses and the recreational concerns of the Dunes visitors.

But I’m tellin’ you, we’re gonna get back to the same place I was at in December: Thunderdome, big glass globe.

Off-roaders have their spot, nearby residents have theirs, and the sand stays put.

It’s the only answer.

Tribune photo by David Middlecamp

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