Signs went up recently prohibiting horses on a trail at the Morro Dunes Ecological Reserve. Horse riders in Los Osos are asking the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to reconsider a multi-use trail to allow for equestrian use.
“With the signs, the energy is very different — it's hostile, and it's aggressive,” said Barbie Breen-Gurly, who is the owner of Sea Horse Ranch in Los Osos. “There have been almost accidents, people are like, ‘You're not supposed to be here.’”
Breen-Gurly has used the trail for decades.
“Started in 1971, and I've ridden the trails here, all of them, but certainly the corridor trail as well,” recalled Breen-Gurly. “When my daughters were little — the Sunnyside (Elementary) School is over here — I would ride them on that corridor trail to school.”
The corridor in question is located in the Morro Dunes Ecological Reserve Bayview Unit.
“The trail connects the entire east equestrian population to the coast, so our coastal access is cut off,” explained Lisa Shinn, who rides her horse in the area. “We get to here and we can't continue; this trail also takes us downtown, takes us to the post office, to the parade.”
The CDFW acquired the property in 2000 and 2003.
“CDFW doesn’t allow horses on Morro Dunes Ecological Reserve because of the negative impacts to habitat and wildlife species such as the federally endangered species: Morro shoulderband snail and Indian knob mountainbalm, and the threatened Morro manzanita,” CDFW Information Officer Ken Paglia said in a statement.
Now, horse riders have to stick to county property and paved streets to get around the prohibited area. That’s caused some confusion with hikers and some negative interactions.
“We've got people that are hostile to the horses, some of the dogs off leash that attacked some of the horses,” added Shinn.
Meanwhile, horse riders claim the state hasn’t done enough to inform them about the changes.
“I had no idea — there was no hearing,” said Shinn.
Paglia said CDFW has placed signs in the past, but they have reportedly been torn down.
“A lack of CDFW lands management funding has been the primary reason for not fencing and posting the boundaries in prior years,” added Paglia.
Recently, “horses prohibited” signage was placed around the reserve.
“Because of an increase in impacts from visitors, an increase in complaints from other user groups about conflicts with equestrians on the trails, and because we are preparing the site for restoration activities that will facilitate the Los Osos Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP),” explained Paglia.
“We’re just requesting that in that habitat conservation plan that we're allowed to keep our corridor or multi-use trail that we have shared with everybody for forever,” said Shinn.
Lynda Roeller is a volunteer with the Coast Mounted Assistance at Montaña de Oro. She said that this trail is an important access point for riders and serves as a training space.
“If we had access to this it gets them used to the trail, gets them used to things jumping out like rabbits, rattlesnakes, coyotes, so being able to access this helps them get used to when we go out there [Montaña de Oro],” added Roeller.
For Los Osos Resident Becky McFarland, this open space is like her backyard.
“Horses come through here all the time, and I'm not against there being a designated trail,” said McFarland. “I hope there's some kind of compromise.”
Not all hikers are against horses on the reserve.
“There is not an overwhelming amount of horseback riders, and the horseback riders that we come across are really friendly,” said Zarina Dubois, who hikes with her dogs in the area.
“CDFW does not intend to change the California Code of Regulations to allow equestrian use on the Bayview Unit because the use is not compatible with the habitat type, the species, and the purpose of the state originally acquiring the property,” said Paglia.
The equestrian group said they will keep trying to gain access to the trail. So far, they have collected 150 signatures for a petition.
“We’re willing absolutely to help maintain, help put signs up, to help police,” said Breen-Gurly. “We want to be part of the solution 100%; we want to because this means a lot to us.”
