Santa Barbara, Calif. – The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office is seeking grant funding to provide increased patrolling and enforcement of areas where illegal off-road vehicles are being used. The Sheriff’s Office continues to receive complaints about individuals on ATV’s primarily in the Santa Ynez riverbed and surrounding areas bordering the City of Lompoc who are damaging private property and the environment. However, these complaints are not limited to this area and are received throughout the County. These ATV riders are violating several other state and county ordinances. The Sheriff’s Office is planning to continue enforcement in the Santa Ynez River, the Santa Maria riverbed area (Sisquoc River), and the Cuyama Valley as well as locations in the south county area.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office applied to the State of California Parks and Recreation Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) 2023/2024 grant program. The preliminary application was submitted Tuesday, February 27, 2024. As part of the multi-step application process, there is an opportunity for public comment and feedback before the final application which is due on June 5, 2024. Starting March 5, 2024, until May 6, 2024, the public can view the on-line grant application and submit comments.

To view the application, go to the California State OHV Grants and Cooperative Agreements program at ohv.parks.ca.gov. To make public comments on the application, click on “GRANTS” in the navigation ribbon bar and then on “On-line Grants Application (OLGA).” Then follow the directions on the menu bar on the left side of the screen.

This is the tenth year the Sheriff’s Office has applied for grant funding for OHV enforcement in Santa Barbara County.