Point Reyes Ranching Bill Dies in the Senate

Jan 25

*Headlands from Chimney Rock / Credit: NPS*

Rep. Jared Huffman’s bill to permanently instate ranching at Point Reyes National Seashore and eliminate the park’s free-roaming Tule Elk herds failed to reach the Senate floor for a vote in the final days of 2018. Had it passed, HR-6687 would have changed the law and the national seashore forever.

With the Democrats now in the majority in the House, the former chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, Rob Bishop (R-UT) has been replaced by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), who is far friendlier to conservation and public lands. Huffman continues to serve on this important Committee and heads the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans.

Despite having sold their land to the National Park Service (NPS) more than 50 years ago, ranchers have continuously operated in the park ever since. They claim a right to do so, citing what they say was Congress’s “original intent” to allow them to remain in the park permanently. They have long pursued a rewrite of the Seashore’s 1962 enabling legislation, which contains no such language. Ranchers also have pressed for 20-year grazing leases, more livestock, fewer regulations and less oversight. A federal lawsuit filed by environmental groups led to a settlement agreement that commits the NPS to a General Management Plan Amendment (GMPA), and a transparent planning process that gives the public a voice in the future of ranching at the Seashore. The GMPA also requires an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on ranching, Had it passed, HR 6687 would have permanently ensconced cattle at the Seashore regardless of impacts to the park.

The National Park Service (NPS) is preparing a General Management Plan Amendment (GMPA) for this Seashore. This process, which Seashore ranchers agreed to when they signed a settlement agreement in federal court in 2017, gives the public the opportunity to weigh in on a draft of the plan and EIS for ranching. These documents are due out this summer. Your comments are crucial! To receive updates and action alerts, please join our mailing list.

Elk vs Cattle
A half million Tule elk, a species endemic to California, once roamed the state, including the Point Reyes peninsula, where they were hunted to extinction. Today, some 6,000 domestic cows graze on 28,000 acres at the Seashore—outnumbering native Tule Elk 10 to 1. Tule elk are found in no other national park. Yet, the Tule elk are considered a problem because they forage on land that’s "reserved" for cattle.

When the NPS kicked off its GMPA planning process last November, it released five alternatives (see alternatives, page 5) for public comment. The Park Service’s "preferred alternative" calls for the Tule elk—a species that’s benefitted from the Park Service’s years-long recovery efforts--to be removed from the park because ranchers who lease parkland to raise their beef and dairy cows want the elk kept off their grass. According to Seashore Information Officer Melanie Gunn, all the alternatives are being considered, including "no action." But, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, "park biologists are clearly leaning toward management of the elk herd, which is permitted because they were never listed under the Endangered Species Act. In that case, Gunn told the Chronicle, "the choices have been narrowed to rounding up the surplus elk and relocating them outside the park, possibly on American Indian land, driving them out, or lethal removal.”

Norovirus Outbreak Suspends Oyster Harvest
Oyster harvesting in Tomales Bay is suspended while the California Department of Health investigates the cause of a norovirus outbreak that sickened about 50 people who ate oysters. Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis told the Marin IJ that the contamination was likely not from food handling. "It’s likely this represents contamination of the water itself,” he said.

A 2013 Coastal Watershed Assessment, which monitored viral and bacteria counts in Tomales Bay, noted steep spikes in fecal matter following wet weather. It attributed the pollution to "combined sewer discharges, runoff from agricultural areas, and other unknown causes.” The report is nearly 6 years old, but the number of cattle grazing on the Seashore has only increased since then. Managing the tons of cattle manure remains a challenge. Spreading the manure on pastures--common practice at the Seashore—can cause run off into streams, ponds and marine environments when it rains.

Freedom of Information Act Under Attack
During the busy winter holiday, the Interior Department quietly published a proposed rule that would restrict access to public documents as provided under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), our nation’s most important transparency law.

If the proposal goes into effect, Trump’s Interior Department would be able to operate with more secrecy and less accountability than it did under former Secretary Ryan Zinke, who catered to special interests and lobbyists openly hostile to public lands and wildlife, and it would be extremely difficult for the public to find out. At a time of special interest giveaways that are hurting our national parks and public lands, we need more transparency, not less. Please tell Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt that you oppose any attempt by the department to restrict public records and transparency.