OCEANO, Calif.— In response to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, a federal court has ruled that the California Department of Parks and Recreation violated the Endangered Species Act by allowing motorized vehicle use that harms imperiled shorebirds at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.

In a decision issued late Thursday, the court concluded that off-road vehicles illegally harm and kill western snowy plovers, a threatened bird species.

“The court’s ruling sends a strong message that California must finally safeguard the federally protected birds it has for so long ignored,” said Jeff Miller, a senior conservation advocate at the Center. “For decades state officials have let off-road vehicles tear through endangered species habitat at Oceano Dunes, injuring and killing snowy plovers, harassing roosting flocks, and degrading their habitat. This decision makes it clear that such neglect can no longer continue.”

The court’s summary judgment decision found that the department’s continued authorization of motorized vehicle use in snowy plover habitat results in the illegal “take” of protected birds. The Endangered Species Act prohibits killing or harming snowy plovers without authorization from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Although state park officials began developing a habitat conservation plan in the early 2000s in an effort to secure an Endangered Species Act permit to incidentally “take” protected wildlife, the plan remains unfinished more than two decades later. The agency has continued to authorize motorized vehicle use at Oceano Dunes without a permit, and its own records document many incidents in which snowy plovers have been killed and harmed by vehicle activity.

The Fish and Wildlife Service today announced the receipt of a new application from State Parks for an incidental take permit for Oceano Dunes, but the permit and associated conservation plan must go through environmental review and public comment and receive final approval.

A 2020 draft conservation plan by State Parks would have worsened conditions for snowy plovers, least terns and other endangered species. That plan prioritized off-road recreation over protection of wildlife and proposed opening additional sensitive dunes habitat to off-road vehicles. It could not legally be approved and had to be withdrawn.

“State Parks seems dead set on letting vehicles run over snowy plovers and interfere with their breeding so they can maximize off-roading,” said Miller. “For their last attempt to get a federal permit, state officials floated a dune buggy protection plan, pretending it would help endangered birds, and that ruse didn’t fly. We’ll be watching this new application and dunes management plan closely to ensure snowy plovers get real protections.”

The Center filed its lawsuit in 2020 after providing formal notice of violations to State Parks in 2017 and 2020. The ruling confirms that Endangered Species Act protections apply to state agencies that authorize activities resulting in illegal take of protected wildlife.

The court directed the Center and State Parks to work together on next steps.