Here where I'm at in CA, a lot of beaches have the dunes set aside, with protective cable-boundry thing, so that the natural vegetation doesn't get trampled (as it's fragile) and for the nesting birds or something like that. But snooksion2, I HIGHLY doubt someone's gonna get "imprisoned" for disturbing grains of sand, or shortcutting through them, or digging. You'll probably get a "scram" or warning, cross-eyed yelling at you, or whatever. Oh sure, I'm sure there's probably some minutia about "maximum penalties", etc... There is always the "maximum" for any violation (speeding, tailgating, etc....) that will often include ".... and up to 3 years in jail", etc... And yeah, I'm sure there's stories of motorists getting "roughed up" for nothing but a tail-light out, by an over-zealous cop.