Recreational Impacts on Coastal Habitats: Ventura County Fairgrounds, California

The doubling of California's population since 1960 has presented new challenges to the California Coastal Act's mandates to maximize public coastal access and protect coastal resources. The increasing potential conflict between California's dual mandates is illustrated by the recent installation of a 328 car parking facility along the shore and adjacent to the Ventura River Estuary, San Buenaventura, California. As population increases within the Coastal Zone additional considerations to protect sensitive coastal resources must be incorporated into coastal access and recreation programs. The philosophy and management principles developed as part of the national Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Acts could provide a model for shaping new polices and practices for managing the ocean wilderness along the California Coast.