Salsedo

California’s Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR or the department) appeals a preliminary injunction ordering it to issue to plaintiff Edward Salsedo a permit for vehicle access to Gold Bluffs Beach located within Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. This park is one of three state parks in California’s north coast that, together with Redwood National Park, a federal park, form Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP), some 105,516 acres of parkland managed cooperatively by CDPR and the National Park Service (NPS). After Salsedo’s prior permit for vehicle access to Gold Bluffs Beach for the purpose of commercial surf fishing was revoked, he brought a petition for a writ of mandate to compel the department to reissue it. The trial court issued a preliminary injunction awarding such relief pending the final resolution of the action, rejecting, among other arguments, the contention that under the current management structure NPS is a necessary and indispensable party without whose appearance no valid injunction can be entered. According to the department, the injunction that has been entered orders it “to do something it does not have the power to do.” We conclude, as did…