Wealthy California city of Dana Point is embroiled in $26million battle over protections for endangered MICE amid claims of political favoritism - and a tragic death

A spat in the exclusive California enclave of Dana Point over protections for endangered mice has ballooned into a four-year, $26million legal battle – with claims of political favoritism and a tragic death.

The upscale Orange County coastal community has counted NBA legend Magic Johnson, Days of Our Lives actress Melinda Clarke, Something Corporate rock star Andrew McMahon, TV investor Christina Haack, and Wilma Flintstone voice actress Jean Vander Pyl as residents.

But it is also home to the Pacific pocket mouse, an endangered rodent that was thought to be extinct for 20 years before its 1993 rediscovery. There are now thought to be fewer than 200 of the species in existence, of which 90 are in Dana point.

The mouse makes its home in a 29.4-acre protected section of coveted coastline, entrusted for decades to an environmental nonprofit.

The conflict, which has become the talk of the upscale neighborhood, began as a simple disagreement over the opening times of the conservation area's public nature trail.

But in the past three years the city and the nonprofit Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM) have sued each other, with the former demanding $13,350,000 in fines and a potential $13 million extra in damages, amid allegations of trespass, lawbreaking – and the unfortunate death of a pocket mouse on the trail.

The legal wrangle has exposed claims of preferential treatment by city officials of politically-connected Dana Point bigwigs, and shone a spotlight on the City Attorney's frequent filing of lawsuits at taxpayers' expense.

The tiny Pacific pocket mouse is at the center of a multi-million four-year battle between the cty of Dana Point and a conservation group

The coastal city of Dana Point has demanded more than $13 million in fines from the Center for Natural Lands Management 

City officials took matters into their own hands, using an 'emergency key' to open the gates and attached chains to keep them from being shut

It all began when nonprofit CNLM temporarily closed the oceanside trail in March 2020 just before 'stay at home' orders were imposed under the Covid-19 pandemic.

Two months later, when restrictions began to be lifted, the City asked them to reopen the locked gates. CNLM refused.

It wasn't until the following October that the group started allowing hikers and sightseers back in – but only between 9am and noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It refused to comply with Dana Point's demands for a full reopening of 7am until sunset daily.

City officials took matters into their own hands, using an 'emergency key' to open the gates and attached chains to keep them from being shut, allowing unfettered access day and night, CNLM's legal filings say.

The city even kicked the nonprofit out of its coastal field office and dumped its equipment and belongings in the trash and on the ground outside, according to CNLM.

City Attorney Patrick Muñoz boasts on his law firm website about winning $7 million in judgments against illegally operating Dana Point marijuana dispensaries

Beginning in June 2021, Dana Point started slapping the nonprofit with citations. There are now at least 33 filed against them.

CNLM retaliated, suing the city, claiming trespass and a violation of its conservation contract.

Patrick Muñoz, a private lawyer on retainer as City Attorney with a $1.4 million budget, who is known for his 'countless' lawsuits fought on behalf of Dana Point taxpayers, countersued in January 2022.

His lawsuit claims the charity violated a 1976 California law called the Coastal Act and demanded 'civil penalties' of $12,450,000 – growing at $15,000 per day – as well as damages and 'attorney's fees'.

More than two years and 312 legal filings later, the war is still raging.

Muñoz told DailyMail.com that those penalties now total a maximum $13,350,000, with damages of as much as $13 million – for a total $26 million.

In a letter this month, the nonprofit even alleged that 'individuals with close ties to the City Council' have been trespassing on the trail 'after hours' – and 'have called City officials… to let them out'.

'Between January 1, 2024, and March 14, 2024, CNLM documented over 600 instances of people on the preserve after closing hours,' the April 2 letter to Dana Point councilors said.

'On many occasions, individuals with close ties to the City Council have insisted on staying in the preserve after hours. When the gates are locked at sunset, as per the posted hours, these individuals have called city officials (rather than the posted phone numbers for CNLM or law enforcement) to let them out.

'Needless to say, we are not aware of any time these individuals have been cited for trespassing.'

A source close to the incidents said one well-connected trail user is local politician Rick Erkeneff, president of the South Coast Water District board and deputy chairman of beach conservation charity the Surfrider Foundation's Dana Point chapter.

CNLM claims that the city's actions have cost at least one life.

San Diego Zoo's Pacific pocket mouse, Pat, is recognized as the oldest known mouse in the world when he reached nine years and 209 days in February

Dana Point  in Orange County,California, is known for its harbor, whale watching tours, and sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean

CNLM claims trespass on the preserve after dark 'causes irreperable damage' to its fragile ecosystem 

The mouse was in good condition when he died last year according too a post mortem examination carried out by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

The tiny pocket mouse weighs around one-twentieth of an ounce – about the same as three pennies

In March this year the nonprofit filed an emergency motion with the Orange County Superior Court, claiming that they found a dead rodent, crushed in a shoe print on the nature trail, on June 5 2023.

'The Pacific pocket mouse was found dead on the ground in a set of shoe prints on the trail at approximately 8:20 AM. Public access to the trail would have occurred at 7:00 am,' the March 26 filing said.

'There was no evidence of a predator attack and the individual Pacific pocket mouse—a young male—appeared otherwise healthy. These conditions, in addition to the findings of a necropsy, indicated that the mortality was related to a pedestrian encounter.' 

The city shot back that human responsibility for the mouse's death is 'speculation', and that 'the death of the single pocket mouse, while unfortunate, is simply part of nature'.

The City Attorney’s claws are out in the legal battle. He shared with DailyMail.com internal CNLM emails he obtained, showing a board member at the nonprofit questioning their own closure of the trail and calling it a ‘PR, legal and monetary disaster’.

‘The continued partial closure is damaging our reputation with hikers, nature lovers, community and business leaders who do not understand our position. Frankly we don’t either,’ CNLM board member David Thoreau wrote in an October 16 2021 email.

Muñoz also shared photos of Dana Point residents scaling the spiked fence surrounding Strands Beach near the preserve, after its gates were allegedly locked shut before signposted closing times.

Muñoz shared photos of Dana Point residents scaling the spiked fence surrounding Strands Beach near the preserve, after its gates were allegedly locked shut before signposted closing times

The city says human responsibility for the mouse's death is 'speculation', and that 'the death of the single pocket mouse, while unfortunate, is simply part of nature'.

The council is holding a public hearing on April 22 to determine new opening hours for the trail

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service map from 1993, the year the Pacific pocket mouse was rediscovered, shows its habitat locations. Dana Point is the only one outside the Camp Pendleton marine base

He claimed the real reason for the early closures was not to protect the mice, but the nonprofit’s budget – as it would be more expensive for them to stay open all daylight hours.

The years-long lawsuit has even embroiled state-level agencies.

Muñoz argued in his lawsuit against CNLM that the nonprofitfailed to get a permit from the city to change the trail's opening hours, and cited a November 2021 letter from the powerful California Coastal Commission, saying: 'before any hours may be set restricting public access to those public amenities, CNLM must apply to the city'.

Orange County Judge Michael Strickroth initially sided with the city, ordering an injunction in November 2022 that forced CNLM to keep its gates open from 7am until sunset daily.

But he is due to hear arguments from the nonprofit in June, whose attorneys are armed with another letter from the Coastal Commission appearing to make a U-turn.

'We are also concerned that the City's insistence upon these hours is endangering the existence of the federally threatened Pacific pocket mouse,' the letter from the state commission's enforcement manager Andrew Willis said.

'In order to protect the Pacific pocket mouse and undo the inconsistency with the Local Coastal Program with respect to trail hours described herein, we are asking the city to forego its insistence on maintaining the existing hours of operation.'

CNLM’s general counsel Sarah Mueller told DailyMail.com: ‘While we don’t understand why the City of Dana Point has decided to spend vast amounts of taxpayer dollars in litigation against us, we’re committed to ensuring continued public access to the Preserve Trail as well as preserving its fragile ecosystem and the endangered species that call the Headlands home.’

But a resolution to the interminable Pocket Mouse dispute may be on the horizon.

The nonprofit currently proposes opening four days per week: 8am-4pm in the winter, and 9am-6pm in the summer. 

Muñoz revealed in an April 15 letter to the Coastal Commission that the council is holding a public hearing on April 22 to determine new opening hours for the trail.

He did not say whether the pocket mice would be invited.