Dealing with the Limekiln ranger

To clarify one of my points, my suggestion for parking on the road was misinterpreted. If big groups want to use the area, I'd suggest dropping your boats off in day use, and parking up on the side of the road. One of the complaints that was voiced to me by the rangers was that kayakfishermen clog up the day use area, leaving no room for people wanting to use the area for other reasons. Another issue that was voiced involved kayakfishermen blocking the road to the northern campgrounds with their boats. In that case, try to load your equipment as quickly as possible.
I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from using this launch. I have been fishing  and guiding down there for years now. These suggestions come from an understanding of the issues surrounding kayakfishing in Big Sur.
 

What happens if you've paid your day use fee, unloaded and hauled your yak to the beach, then reparked up on the road - BUT, when it is time to go, all the day use parking is full?

PAL informed me if the discussion going on here about the Limekiln Ranger.  I've been fortunate to not have to deal with this Ranger yet. From what it sounds like, this Ranger is using a lot of discretion to suit his own goals (or nerosis).  I've been using the State Park system for years and it's interesting to hear about the difference in attitudes and procedures this Limekiln Ranger seems to have from my other experiences amongst many parks and many Rangers.  

I can't recall the whole political and administrative structure for the State Parks.  I've had to work with some of the Rangers down south and even hire them for our Annual Kayak Sportfishing Tournament at Doheny State Beach.  Since I can't recall the exact term, I'll call it the local Ranger Headquarters.  The Ranger Headquarters for the area is just south of Doheny State Beach in San Clemente.  If I had a concern with the State Rangers at Doheny I would most likely have contacted the main station at San Clemente.  Anyone know offhand where the main station for the Big Sur area is?  There's most likely a  head Ranger in charge of the area working out of there.  Maybe a few letters from individuals respectfully highlighting some of the details of these encounters would be in order.

One thing interesting I did stumble on to while putting our first tournament together was something called a charter.  Again, it's been a couple of years since having to deal with this so I'm not sure of the exact or full name but kayakers were not specifically included in the park's charter.  They weren't specifically excluded but they weren't included either.  This could have created a problem if the Ranger in charge at Doheny wanted to make it one I suppose.  Our concern since it was such an ambiguous area was that the Rangers technically could use their discretion to do what they wanted when it came to kayakers.  

I discussed this with the head Ranger at the park as well as a few county officials regarding the Charter and it's non inclusion of kayakers.  The Ranger assured me that we had nothing to worry about.  We were happy with the reassurance but still felt that there was too much room for discretion.  We wanted something more absolute.  Long story short, some of us wrote letters expressing our concern and the charter was ammended to include kayakers.  They can still deem a launch area or stretch of beach off limits to kayakers if they wanted to.  Though now there has to be a purpose and specific reason like unsafe conditions whether that means rough weather, pollution, etc;.

This example may not apply to Limekiln as there is a very unique relationship between the local county and Doheny State Park.  Specifically, the park shares a very small portion of beach with the county.  The charter for this area could be unique to Doheny State Park.  Though if it were the same charter system, ammendments and petitions are only considered once per year.

I'd like to get a copy of the local Ranger rules, regs, charter, etc; regarding Limekiln.  At least that way we know the bottom line about our written rights to launch and land there.  What if it were like the skiffs?  Just because we don't have motors doesn't mean that our rights to a launch/landing area can't be limited.  If we're not specifically listed like the swimmers and other listed beach activities, it's quite possible that too much discretion can be excercised by a Ranger thus possibly allowing them to make their own calls.  

I'm so not an expert or even very knowledgable on the subject.  I think kayakers should be spelled out and included in every charter whether it be a state park or county beach.  I would feel much more comfortable submitting my concerns to Chief Ranger after first securing some more information about their official stance in regards kayakers.  I don't obssess on the worst case senario but I think a healthy amount of "not counting chickens before they hatch" can be a good thing.

  jas

Good call, and I think a bit of research will get us to the root of this. There are two ranger stations in Big Sur, one on the South Coast and one on the North Coast. The one on the North Coast is the Big Sur station located in the town of Big Sur, and the one on the South Coast is the Pacific Valley station. I'll look into getting a copy of the charter when I'm down in the area next week and will give you guys a report with more details.
 
Brendan

I believe the specific term for the document is "Use Plan," or "General Plan," or "Park Plan." Please let us know what you learn.

If a few kayakers write letters to his boss that are objective and don't do any name calling, that ranger will find his ass in a sling. So, do some checking and find what district he is in and write his  boss, also make a  copy and cc it to the one more boss up. That way if you the first boss a buddy he can't hide or bury the letters..

The first letter he'll explain away, the next one he will get questioned harder, after three my guess is he will be under close scrutiny. If he knows the letters are coming from kayakers, you might find he suddenly developes a warm place in his heart for kayakers, maybe even help you carry it up from the beach!

Seriously, letters work.