Stinson Beach is part of the National Park Service’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which manages the southern end of the beach, the most protected and broad section of sand, said Kristen Ward, an ecologist with the recreation area’s division of natural resource management and science.
The park service is collaborating with the county to find ways to protect the community. Ward said dunes are an ideal solution because of the potential ecological benefits.
The park service began taking twice-yearly measurements of the beach several years ago to start tracking both seasonal changes and beach loss over time. It has not yet collected enough data to draw any conclusions, but similar measurements collected for decades at Ocean Beach shows how its southern shoreline is quickly eroding.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers embarked on a $7 million project completed last fall to develop a 3,000-foot-long, 30-foot-tall berm to fortify the beach.
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