Point Reyes National Seashore staff next month are expected to release a draft management plan that addresses ranching inside the seashore/NPS file
Anticipation is building in advance of the release of a draft management plan for ranching and dairy operations at Point Reyes National Seashore, with opponents to the industries working to build support for the seashore's Tule elk herd.
At stake are not only the native elk that roam the landscape, but the generations-old livelihood of ranching families, as well as the health of native vegetation at the national seashore on the California coast that could be impacted. Up for consideration in the Draft General Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Impact Statement are options ranging from continued ranching unchanged to removing cattle from the seashore.
Once the draft is released next month, the public will have 45 days to comment on the way ranching and dairy operations and Tule elk at the national seashore should be managed going forward.
Ranching within the Point Reyes peninsula dates to the mid-1800s. Following the establishment of Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the National Park Service purchased the land from ranching families, who in many cases continued to ranch under time-limited reservations of use and occupancy. As the reservations expired, the Park Service continued to authorize ranching and dairying with agricultural lease/special use permits, as is allowed in the two parks’ legislation. Currently, 24 ranching operations are authorized for beef and dairy ranching under lease/permits, which include terms and conditions for the protection of natural and cultural resources.
In February 2016, litigation was brought against the Park Service related to an ongoing ranch planning process and the use of lands in the planning area for ranching and dairying. The plaintiffs and the Park Service, together with the ranchers and the County of Marin, entered into settlement negotiations. The court approved a multi-party Settlement Agreement on July 14, 2017. Per the agreement, the Park Service agreed that in lieu of a Ranch Comprehensive Management Plan, it would prepare a GMP Amendment and Environmental Impact Statement addressing the management of the lands currently leased for ranching in Point Reyes and the north district of Golden Gate.
According to Restore Point Reyes Seashore, a group that advocates for natural conditions at the seashore, cattle at the seashore outnumber Tule elk by nearly 10 to 1.
"The majority of Tule elk are confined to Tomales Point behind an 8-foot fence to prevent them from eating grass that’s leased to the ranchers. Half the confined elk herd—more than 200 animals—died during the recent drought for lack of water and nutritious forage," the group said. "But there's a free-roaming herd of Tule elk herd near Drake's Beach, adjacent to parklands grazed by cattle. Ranchers complain that these elk compete with their cows for grass. The NPS’s proposed remedies include killing, fencing, and removing the elk. Its current approach is daily hazing to run the elk off the leased range."
Some members of Congress want to legislate a permanent ranching industry at Point Reyes. Last year legislation sponsored by Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, called for "the Secretary of the Interior to manage the Point Reyes National Seashore in the State of California consistently with Congress’ long-standing intent to continue to authorize working dairies and ranches on agricultural property as part of the seashore’s unique historic, cultural, scenic and natural values..."
The bill would give cattle the edge over the native elk population at the national seashore.
"In areas of agricultural property where Tule elk present conflicts with working ranches or dairies, the Secretary shall manage the Tule elk for separation from the working ranches or dairies," it read. Further, the bill called for tribes to work with Interior to manage the elk population, either by relocating elk to tribal lands or hunting them "on a subsistence or ceremonial basis."
While the legislation didn't survive the last Congress, the congressman has indicated he will reintroduce the measure if needed to protect the ranching industry at the national seashore.
Comments
Permanent ranching industry? These are family businesses, not factory farms. The Seashore was founded in part to preserve them. That is why the Seashore includes a Pastoral Zone. These anti-ranch activists are fighting to change the nature of the Seashore, not to preserve it. They want to remake it as a wildlife park, kicking out the agricultural community. Agriculture is still an important part of the local economy, and these families are devoted to their way of life. The ranching heritage in Point Reyes is an integral part of this place. There would be no beautiful vistas here if ranching had not taken place for the last few centuries (first by the Spanish, then by the European settlers). That is what shaped the land everyone wants to protect.
At stake are the native elk? The elk are not native, and they are not at stake. This species was re-introduced here, and the elk are a marvelous tourist attraction, but they are not native wildlife. The Seashore has an obligation to manage the elk in a way that protects the ranches in the Pastoral Zone. There is plenty of room for both elk and ranches. The scare stories pitting the elk against the ranchers are nothing but propaganda. There is no chance the elk will be eliminated, the only question is whether they will be properly managed. There was a successful birth-control project here for the elk, but it was stopped for unknown reasons.
Restore Point Reyes Seashore is not an independent group that advocates for natural conditions at the Seashore, it is a propaganda project of the Resource Renewal Institute, one of the groups that sued the Seashore to change its ranch planning process. Yes, the ranchers "complain that these elk compete with their cows for grass" -- because the elk are illegally grazing on privately-managed agricultural land. When the elk were brought in, the Seashore's elk management plan said that "any depredations by elk on fences, crops or other property would require mitigation actions" and yet those actions have not been taken. It is not true that the elk are being hazed daily.
All the ranchers want is for the elk to be managed properly. The elk in the Pastoral Zone don't just graze there, they also damage fences and other property, gore the livestock, and impregnate cows -- when that happens the cow must be destroyed.
I hope you will interview some Point Reyes ranchers for your continuing coverage of this story, or at least reach out to some of the groups that are more objective than the anti-ranch activists. The University of California Cooperative Extension, the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, the Marin County Agriculture Commisioner's Office, and the Marin County Resource Conservation District all work with both the ranchers and the Sesahore and are knowledgeable about these issues.
Tule elk are native! There was once 870,000 Tule Elk in CA. This guy is spreading lies. I personally don't believe that ranching needs to be done on the beach. Native wildlife over ranchers!
Elk impegnating cows?
They are a native species that was extirpated from the area, but there's a reasonably healthy population in California. And where is there ranching on the beach? Ranching is only done on grasslands that support (surprisingly enough) grasses.
A search on Google for the terms "tule elk impregnate cows point reyes" returns just one relelvant result: Ms. Rolph's comment above. And it's rich for Ms. Rolph to refer to Restore Point Reyes Seashoreas being "a propaganda project of the Resource Renewal Institute" considering her long time role in the various controversies at Point Reyes, especially the one concerning the oyster farm in potential wilderness. From her website: "As part of the Lunny support team, I provided pro bono communications services and created an advocacy website for the cause, www.savedrakesbay.com, which I continue to maintain."
The detail about elk impregnating cows was told to me first-hand by a rancher I interviewed.
I fully realize that there were elk in Point Reyes in the 1800s. I think there is a major distinction between a native species and a re-introduced species. If you don't see any difference between the two, I would be interested in your argument.