Kristin Tara McNamara

"Tarren Collins Profile" - 6/2001: New Times, San Luis Obispo weekly

An excerpt.

The sun blankets Mission plaza in brilliant light as a woman approaches prancing forward with quick, light steps. When recognition registers on her face, she trots the last ten feet, her long blonde hair swaying to and fro, her summer dress bouncing lightly. Coming to a stop, she just smiles and shrugs her shoulders. Meet Tarren Collins, chair of the Santa Lucia chapter of the Sierra Club.

Collins has the distinction of receiving this year’s William Penn Mott Award recognizing her activism for environmental protections in Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.

The award, given by the California branch of the Sierra Club, honors those who have greatly contributed to the State Parks. It is named for William Penn Mott, Jr., Director of Parks Services from 1985-89, who worked to expand the parks system.

According to Letty French, chair of the awards committee, it may be given to State Parks employees, Sierra Club members, or anyone who happens to make a great contribution to California’s parks. “It’s a broad category which makes it even more special,” says French.

French attests that one of the main reasons Collins was this year’s recipient is that she has been one of the most effective spokespersons for the Sierra Club and SLO County.

Last February the Sierra club, with Collins leading the pack, teamed up with the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) to request that the Coastal Commission force the State Parks compliancy with its Coastal Development Plan. This plan calls for an environmental impact review on Oceano Dunes, as well as stepping up efforts to protect the endangered residents of the area. The western snowy plover, least tern, and steelhead trout have found themselves on government endangered lists while they have been inundated with off-highway vehicles (OHV) in their habitat. “State parks have been managing the park irresponsibly for 20 years while giving a false sense of security to off-road enthusiasts and environmentalists. People weren’t aware they were doing any damage,” says Collins.

It’s been Collins’ job to make sure that people are aware. She and the Sierra club started an awareness campaign, and it worked. According to Babak Naficy, attorney for the EDC, “It was through her efforts and the efforts of the Sierra Club that this was made a bigger issue.” So much of a bigger issue that the Coastal Commission held a full hearing on February 14 to review Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area’s request to amend its permits and weight limits. The Sierra Club asked for a moratorium of cars while the State Parks conduct an environmental review to better protect the ecosystem, as well as seasonal closure during spawning and hatching seasons. “State Parks and the off-road enthusiasts are erroneously making out the Sierra Club to be the bad guys,” Collins says, “People should be blaming State Parks. Had State Parks protected the fragile dunes ecosystem as required by law, and managed the Oceano Dunes riding area responsibly over the last 20 years, we wouldn’t be in such a dire situation today. They’re trying to get us to compromise on the law and we can’t.” Even if it were not a matter of the law, Collins is the Sierra Club’s bulldog, taking a firm graspof her goals and not letting go until the job is done.

Gordon Hensley, EDC environmental analyst says that “her enthusiasm, energy, and intensity has been just incredible” in this matter. It was this enthusiasm that led Collins to produce a video about the dunes for the Sierra Club. Called “Easing the Throttle,” it focuses on the main points of the Sierra Club opposition. Since a field trip to the dunes was impossibility for the Coastal Commission, the video took the Oceano dunes to them. Sarah Christie of the California Coastal Commission says, “The commission saw the Sierra Club video, and it was quite an effective video,” she takes a breath and lowers her voice, “it turned a lot of heads that day.”

It seems enough heads turned to precipitate change. Prior to the hearing, OHVs brought in on trailers were counted as only one vehicle entering the beach. This has been amended to count total axles entering toward the daily limit of vehicles on the State Beach. There has been a suggestion of building temporary bridge over Arroyo Grande creek (home of the steelhead trout). The Sierra Club and EDC have also filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the parks department for its noncompliance with the Federal Endangered Species Act. The Sierra Club must now evaluate its position in order to move forward. “It’s been a much more complicated matter than I expected in the beginning,” says Hensley.

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Kristin Tara McNamara
805.748.1478
maculated@gmail.com