Clock Ticking on Comment Period for National Seashore Plan

"In order to save and preserve, for purposes of public recreation, benefit, and inspiration, a portion of the diminishing seashore of the United States that remains undeveloped, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to take appropriate action in the public interest toward the establishment of the national seashore."

16 U.S. Code § 459c - Point Reyes National Seashore; purposes; authorization for establishment,
PUBLIC LAW 87-657, September 13, 1962

Tule elk and Steer, Point Reyes Seashore

The National Park Service has published its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for its General Management Plan Amendment (GMPA) for more than 28,000 acres leased for cattle grazing at the Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area. This is the first step in the GMPA planning process. Your comments to the National Park Service Public Scoping website could determine the fate of the park and its wildlife for generations to come. Public comments to the draft plan must be submitted by November 30. 
 
Hundreds of the native Tule elk died at Point Reyes National Seashore during the 2014-2015 drought for lack of access to forage and water. Under the NPS's proposed GMPA alternatives, native Tule elk could be hazed, killed or relocated to prevent them from grazing on parklands leased to dairy and beef operators. Some ranchers are calling for a still free-ranging elk herd to be removed or fenced to keep them off lands reserved for domestic cows. 
 
The San Francisco Chronicle reveals what could be in store for the elk:
"Roaming tule elk at Point Reyes could end up the loser under park ranch plan."

Comments to the EIS scoping document may be submitted online at parkplanning.npthes.gov/poregmpa or:

At Public Meetings
Wednesday, November 14, 2018, 5–7pm
West Marin School Gym, Point Reyes Station, CA
Thursday, November 15, 2018 5–7 pm

Bay Model Visitor Center, Sausalito, CA

By Mail
GMP Amendment
c/o Superintendent
Point Reyes National Seashore
1 Bear Valley Road
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956

Huffman Bill Moves on to Senate

Ranchers want native elk removed or fenced at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Overgrazed pasture at Point Reyes Seashore

Cows at fence line

Rep. Jared Huffman’s Point Reyes ranching bill, H.R.6687, passed the House. The bill was fast tracked under a “suspension of rules,” an action that’s typically reserved for non-controversial matters. The bill is the culmination of years of behind-the scenes maneuvers by agricultural interests to secure and expand ranching at the national seashore.

Ranchers at Point Reyes sold their land to the park service more than 50 years ago but continue to run their beef and dairy cows in the park under lease agreements. A major elk die-off during the 2014-15 drought and lack of planning by the park service led conservation groups to file a lawsuit in 2016. As a result, the park service is now required to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for cattle grazing and is updating its management plan for the first time in nearly 40 years.  

Huffman’s backroom bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), who, as chair of the Natural Resources Committee, is intent on privatizing public lands. (Bishop cut millions of acres from the Bears Ears National Monument to allow oil and gas development.)  H.R.6687 is an end run around the federal court settlement and the Point Reyes planning process.  It would instate ranching at the Seashore without regard for the pending environmental impact analyses or public comment.

Please contact California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris asking them not to support the Huffman-Bishop bill.

Seashore Cattle Disease Threatens Seashore Wildlife

Manure slurry spread on park pastures

Many of the cattle at Point Reyes have contracted Johne’s, (pronounced Yo-knees) a highly contagious digestive disease that affects ruminants including cattle, sheep, goats, deer, and elk. Johne's is common in dairy cattle, and the bacteria has been found in milk, beef, and powdered infant formula.

Johne’s disease spreads through manure and contaminated water. Because ranchers at Point Reyes Seashore spread cattle manure in the park, native Tule elk are now infected.

The leading U.S. lab working on the disease, based at the University of Wisconsin, recommends regular testing and removal of infected cows and manure to eliminate Johne’s from cattle herds and, ultimately, from the food supply. The Johne’s Information Center says that untreated manure should never be used for fertilizer or carbon farming, as practiced at Point Reyes National Seashore. Beyond shooting the elk to test them for the disease, the park service has taken no action to deal with the threat of Johne’s. Cattle at the Seashore are not currently being tested. Elk with the disease cannot be relocated, which is among the management alternatives the park service is vetting. 

In its GMPA planning, now underway, the park service is also considering allowing Seashore ranchers to add livestock such as goats, sheep, and chickens to their operations, despite the potential to further spread the disease.

Include your concerns regarding the spread of Johne’s from cattle and other proposed livestock in your comments to the park service.

Point Reyes as Refuge

The Seashore provides refuge for 100 plant and animal species listed as rare, threatened, or endangered. A number of NPS-commissioned studies document impacts from cattle, such as water pollution from cattle manure as a threat to endangered species including Coho salmon. The threatened tri-colored blackbirds are among several bird species reduced by silage mowing for cattle feed. Your comments could decide the fate of these parks for generations to come.

Learn the Facts about Point Reyes Seashore at restoreptreyesseashore.org