Liz Werhane

As a runner, you know how important clean air is. The air quality downwind of the Oceano Dunes violates health standards one day out of four. For a documentary on this subject, please see http://www.safebeachanddunes.org.

You were on land that the Department of the Interior proclaimed a “National Natural Landmark”. We keep finding out just how special this land is. It is where the ecosystems from the north and south meet forming a rare “hot spot” of diversity. It is by the sea where waters from the north and south form one of the largest upwellings on the North American coastline, which generates the beginning of the ocean’s food chain.

What should be appreciated as a vortex (as it was by the Chumash and Theosophists) is being brutalized by off-road vehicles.

Off roading breaks the dunes crust, stirring up health threatening particulate matter. The carbon dioxide from unregulated exhausts not only pollutes the air but also increases salinity in the ocean, destroying the required PH balance for life in the sea.

Thank you for sharing your observations, and allowing me to comment. Perhaps you could link also to our website, http://www.safebeachnow.org.

Ran today at Cave Landing. During the past 4 decades I’ve run over 600 miles on that special, dog friendly beach
(write-up available on request)