Point Reyes National Seashore is important to all of us. Whether rancher, environmentalist, recreationist or public official, we all are co-owners of our national park and have a stake in its future.
Following revelations last year that 250 of the park’s iconic tule elk died during the drought behind National Park Service fencing, a group of local environmentalists sought answers. The park service was less than forthcoming about what happened to the elk and its intentions for the surviving herds, fueling concerns.
Taking a closer look at the park’s management practices ultimately required filing a request under the Freedom of Information Act. Documents showed that the park service was aware of, but has failed to comprehend or address the impacts of cattle on the park.
The seashore’s General Management Plan — a kind of “master plan” that’s required of every national park unit — was last updated in 1980, even though conditions at the park have changed significantly in the past 36 years.
In the 1990s, the park service started to revise the General Management Plan, but abandoned the effort without explanation. The seashore still lacks an up-to-date General Management Plan. Instead, the park service has been working on a single-focus “Ranch Comprehensive Management Plan” with the goal to grant 20-year grazing permits within the seashore.
It’s an oft-repeated misconception that an agreement was made decades ago that cattle grazing would continue in the park indefinitely. There is no mandate under any law to continue ranching at the seashore. The park service does have the discretion to permit grazing, but only if doing so furthers the purposes of the park.
Do the ranching leases further the purposes of the seashore? Do the benefits of cattle ranching outweigh competing uses? Do the environmental impacts or cattle outmatch the protections afforded national parks? An updated General Management Plan would answer these questions and resolve whether, where and how dairy and beef ranching should occur.
The ranchers and their supporters claim grazing “rights” in the seashore and that “environmental extremists” are trying to drive them out of the park. In fact, the recent lawsuit says nothing about whether commercial grazing should continue, let alone demand that it be eliminated. It asks that the park service obey federal and state laws and assess the environmental impacts of actions — such as issuing 20-year commercial grazing leases — before committing to them.
These same foundational environmental laws also ensure transparency — federal land management agencies cannot make deals in private with special interests. The lawsuit asks the court to require a public, comprehensive General Management Plan for the seashore that looks at all uses and their impacts on the park, including climate, water, plants, wildlife and public use and enjoyment.
Who could reasonably argue that the seashore doesn’t need a management plan that reflects the current challenges facing the park? The adjacent Golden Gate National Recreation Area adopted just such a plan in 2015, without the Marin Board of Supervisors opposing it.
Point Reyes National Seashore is Marin’s backyard, but it belongs to all Americans. The county supervisors do not govern the national park; nor does the park exist exclusively for the pleasure of Marin County or the benefit of 15 ranchers who claim to be good stewards but seem to fear a long-overdue review of their operations.
These ranchers, paid millions of dollars for their land decades ago, still profit on our public land. Yet, they vehemently oppose the comprehensive “master planning” the seashore needs and the public deserves.
They, the supervisors, and others who claim to care about the seashore, should be standing up for the park, not standing in the way of a plan to manage the park for the future — a plan not just for the ranchers, but for all of us.
Susan Ives of Mill Valley is a writer, photographer and a lover of national parks. She has lived in Marin for 40 years.