Los Osos Oaks State Natural Reserve

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Los Osos Oaks State Natural Reserve
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) [1]
Baccharis pilularis in Los Osos Oaks State Preserve.jpg
Coyotebrush (Baccharis pilularis) in Los Osos Oaks State Natural Reserve.
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Location San Luis Obispo County, California, United States
Nearest city Los Osos, California
Coordinates 35°18′23″N120°48′49″W / 35.30639°N 120.81361°W / 35.30639; -120.81361
Area85 acres (34 ha)
Established1972
Governing body California Department of Parks and Recreation

Los Osos Oaks State Natural Reserve is a California State Park in western San Luis Obispo County, in the Central Coast of California region. It preserves centuries-old coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) growing atop relict sand dunes. [2] It is located in the Los Osos Valley between San Luis Obispo and Baywood Park-Los Osos, just outside the town of Los Osos. The 85-acre (34 ha) park was established in 1972. [3]

Contents

Area history

There are several prehistoric sites in the proximate vicinity of the Los Osos Oaks State Natural Reserve, in addition to archaeological recovery within the reserve itself. A significant-sized Chumash site, Los Osos Back Bay, has been partially excavated on a stabilized sand dune slightly to the north of the reserve dating to at least as early as 1200 CE. [4]

Proposed for closure

The reserve was one of several state parks threatened with closure in 2008. After the 2009 California state special elections, in which voters turned down a package of propositions dealing with California budget crisis, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed the temporary closure (for at least 2 years) of 220 parks. [5] The closures were ultimately avoided by cutting hours and maintenance system-wide. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

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San Luis Obispo County, officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baywood-Los Osos, California</span> Unincorporated community in California, United States

Baywood-Los Osos is an unincorporated community in western San Luis Obispo County, California. The population was 14,351 in the 2000 census. It includes the communities of Los Osos, which is located near Morro Bay, Baywood Park, and the former community of Cuesta-by-the-Sea.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Osos, California</span> Unincorporated community in California, United States

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Amphibious Training Base Morro Bay also called Camp Morro Bay and Morro Bay Section Base was a US Navy training base for amphibious beach assault during World War II. The base opened in 1941 to train troops for the Pacific theater of operations' island leapfrogging using landing craft and LCVP. The base was located in Morro Bay, California in San Luis Obispo County. The base was on 250 acres (100 ha) of leased land. Ships for the base were based at the Avila's Port San Luis in San Luis Bay. Which was also leased with the yacht club and its warehouse. Added to the leased land was: two piers, mess hall, gallon water storage tanks, roads, buildings, garages, and ammo storage area. The Navy also extended the bay's breakwater. A wooden trestle bridge was built to get to the nearby sandspit, the bridge was removed in 1946 and some pillars still remain. The near Estero Bay was the site of training assault also, by the Navy, US Army, US Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard also taking over the unused vacation hotel there. Nearby United States Army Air Corps fields had fighter aircraft fire flour shot to make the training more real. Up to 175 landing craft were at the base and 16,000 troops a day trained. In the base and in nearby Los Osos and Baywood live fire bombing, machine gun, bazookas, and flamethrowers were used for training. The training ended on 31 October 1945 and the site is now a Duke Energy power plant built in 1955, site of three large smoke stacks. North of the former base in the notable Morro Rock. Avila Beach was also a Union Oil plant with many oil storage tanks, use for Navy ships.

References

  1. "Protected Planet | Los Osos Oaks State". Protected Planet. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  2. "Los Osos Oaks SNR". California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  3. "California State Park System Statistical Report: Fiscal Year 2009/10" (PDF). California State Parks: 30. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  4. Hogan, C. Michael (2008-02-08). "Los Osos Back Bay". Megalithic Portal.
  5. Moore, Michael (2009-05-29). "Henry Coe on governor's list of parks to close". The Gilroy Dispatch. Gilroy, Calif. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
  6. McGreevy, Patrick; Louis Sahagun (2009-09-26). "State parks to stay open, but with cuts in hours, staffing". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, Calif. Retrieved 2011-12-30.