A coastal Orange County city and a conservation nonprofit are fighting over the future of a popular hiking trail along the water — and in the middle sits a tiny nocturnal mouse.
The Dana Point Preserve is on a coastal bluff with a half-mile public trail overlooking the Pacific Ocean. While the preserve and hiking trail are adjacent to the city of Dana Point’s Nature Interpretive Center, the 29.4-acre preserve is managed by the Center for Natural Lands Management, a nonprofit land trust. The preserve was acquired in 2005, the outcome of a development agreement that protected some open space with public access while allowing 121 acres of residential development.
For the past six years, the city of Dana Point and the Center for Natural Lands Management have battled over open hours at the preserve, taking the fight to the California Coastal Commission, Orange County Superior Court and the court of public opinion. At the heart of the longstanding disagreement is a minefield of difficult choices that land managers and entities like the Coastal Commission must navigate between preserving public access to California’s coast and protecting the endangered wildlife that call the coast home.
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