California State Parks, the counties of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, The Nature Conservancy, and a non-profit group called the Dune's Center initially tackled this daunting project. The Nature Conservancy transferred their remaining ownership and management to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has established the new Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge, and to the Center For Natural Lands Management. The Center has accepted the management of the 600 acre Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve, which is owned by Santa Barbara County Parks and then leased to the Center. This site forms part of the southern anchor to the dunes complex, and is by far in the least damaged by ORVs and exotic vegetation. It also receives the highest visitation of any portion of the dunes, with the exception of the open ORV area at the northern anchor to the dunes system.
People visit every day for surfing, fishing, and hiking.
It also has one of the best, if not the best, least tern and western snowy plover nesting areas in the area. It is the Center' s challenge to insure the protection of these precious natural resources and to accommodate the public access needs. This along with regular patrolling seems to be maintaining a difficult balance. The Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve has a relatively low level of invasion from exotic plants, so the time to control those that are present is now. These species tend to stabilize a naturally dynamic ecosystem, reducing habitat for the native species who have evolved to cope, and thrive, within that dynamic.