The Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area needs to be shut down now. It is out of control. The Off-Highway Motor Vehicle (OHV) Recreation& Division of the California Department of Parks and Recreation won’t tell us how bad it really is, since they are the foxes guarding the hen house. What we do know is that the area of beach and dunes they control has had seven fatalities this year so far. The dead include a woman and a child who were buried alive in the sand and succumbed in separate events.

The OHV does not give the public the correct information on deaths and injuries. Those injured who die elsewhere are not reported as deaths from the Oceano Dunes. Only a fraction of the injuries on Oceano Beach and Dunes are reported to the public. Arroyo Grande Hospital alone treats a thousand a year, which is triple the number the OHV reports. This does not include those who are& helicoptered and driven to other hospitals in this and other counties.

-- Nell Langford - Pismo Beach