The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today designated 41,089 acres in coastal areas of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties as critical habitat for La Graciosa thistle, an endangered native California plant.
About 90 percent of the designation occurs on private land. The remaining acreage is on federal, state, and county lands in coastal dune habitat and wetland areas.
Included in the critical habitat area in San Luis Obispo County are Pismo Dunes State Preserve; portions of Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area where off-highway vehicles are not allowed; and the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge. Areas of Rancho Guadalupe Dunes County Park in Santa Barbara County are also part of the designation.
The heavily used off-highway vehicle riding area within Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area was removed in the final designation because the plant does not occur in this area, and the Service determined that it is not essential for the conservation of the La Graciosa thistle.
The owners of the former Unocal Guadalupe Oil Field
