August 12, 2019 - POINT REYES, Calif.— The National Park Service released a draft plan last week that calls for shooting native elk to allow for expanded cattle ranching and commercial 
agriculture at Point Reyes National Seashore. The plan would allow the killing of tule elk, damage to wildlife habitat, harm of endangered species, degradation of water quality and create new conflicts with other native wildlife species.
The Park Service’s proposed alternative for an amendment to the park’s General Management Plan would enshrine cattle grazing as the primary use of a huge swath of the National Seashore, at the expense of native wildlife and natural habitats.
“This is a shockingly anti-wildlife plan, and killing these elk will do nothing to fix or reduce the environmental damage caused by cattle ranching,” said Jeff Miller, senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “What is the Park Service thinking? Allowing expansion of commercial agricultural activities would inevitably lead to further conflicts with other native wildlife. After the elk shooting starts, get ready for ranchers to call for the slaughter of the park’s bobcats, foxes and birds.”
The Park Service proposes to kill native tule elk and haze them off 18,000 acres of the park to allow private ranchers’ cattle sole access to these public lands. Under this plan, enough tule elk would be killed to establish an arbitrary 120-member population threshold for the Drakes Beach herd.
This free-roaming herd currently has 124 elk and has been slowly expanding. This is the only National Park where tule elk occur.
The plan would also allow conversion of park grasslands and wildlife habitat at Point Reyes to artichoke farms and other row crops, as well as the expansion of commercial livestock farming to introduce sheep, goats, pigs or chickens. This would inevitably lead to conflicts with other native wildlife in the park and could result in ranchers calling for killing of coyotes, bobcats, foxes and numerous birds.
The plan would extend 20-year lease terms to 15 private dairy and beef ranches in the park, on approximately 26,100 acres. The plan would expand ranching leases into an additional 7,600 acres of the park that are currently not authorized for cattle ranching.
The plan includes vague aspirational management guidelines to protect natural resources from damage from cattle grazing and ranching. But the Park Service has been unable and unwilling to enforce many of the current grazing lease conditions. The plan would authorize excessive levels of cattle stocking that have led to overgrazing, resulting in significant soil erosion, degradation of water quality, damage to endangered species habitat and the spread of invasive plants in the park.
In 2016 the Resource Renewal Institute, Center for Biological Diversity and Western Watersheds Project filed a federal lawsuit against the National Park Service for failing to update the park’s badly outdated general management plan before attempting to extend cattle grazing leases in the Point Reyes National Seashore.
In 2017 conservationists, ranchers and the Park Service agreed on a four-year plan to address cattle ranching and tule elk conflicts at Point Reyes through a public environmental review process and an amendment to the national seashore’s management plan.
The reintroduction of tule elk to the Point Reyes peninsula has so far been a success story for the conservation of native species and restoring ecosystems, in keeping with the mission of the National Park Service.
The Drakes Beach elk herd is one of two free-roaming herds in the park. Letting elk roam free is critical to their survival. More than half the elk in the Tomales Point herd, which is fenced in on a peninsula to appease ranchers, died during a recent drought because of a lack of water and food.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.4 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Source: Center for Biological Diversity
The National Park Service Seeks Public Comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the General Management Plan Amendment for Point Reyes National Seashore and the North District of Golden Gate National Recreation Area
August 12, 2019 - POINT REYES STATION, Calif. — The National Park Service (NPS) is seeking public review and comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the General Management Plan (GMP) Amendment addressing all lands currently under agricultural lease/permit within Point Reyes National Seashore and the north district of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The GMP Amendment evaluates the long term uses of more than 28,000 acres in coastal Marin County.
The draft EIS is available for a 45-day public review and comment period under the National Environmental Policy Act. This comment period will also satisfy the public involvement requirement under the National Historic Preservation Act. The draft EIS analyzes six alternatives from 20-year agricultural lease/permits with diversification and increased operational flexibility, to reduced ranching, no dairy ranching, and no ranching alternatives. This plan also addresses long term tule elk management in the agricultural lease/permit areas of the park.
The NPS preferred alternative allows existing ranch families to continue beef and dairy operations with 20-year lease/permits. Tule elk in the Drakes Beach area would be managed at a viable population threshold that is also compatible with authorized ranching. The NPS would implement a subzoning framework that protects park resources, maintains ranching, and allows opportunities for operational flexibility and diversification. The preferred alternative also identifies opportunities to improve the visitor experience and a framework for managing visitor capacity. The preferred alternative supports the NPS's ability to maintain historic resources and cultural landscapes that are integral to the Point Reyes Peninsula Dairy Ranches Historic District and Olema Valley Dairy Ranches Historic District.
The 45-day public review and comment period is open until September 23. The NPS will host two public meetings during the comment period. The meetings will be identical in format and are intended to share information and gather public comments on the draft EIS. The meetings are scheduled for late August at the following locations:
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
5–7 pm
West Marin School Gym
Point Reyes Station, CA
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
5–7 pm
Bay Model Visitor Center
Sausalito, CA
Comments may be submitted online at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/poregmpa,512|" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(68, 19, 108); text-decoration: none; font-weight: 700; transition: all 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; border-bottom: 2px dotted rgb(149, 108, 183); letter-spacing: -0.25px;">https://parkplanning.nps.gov/poregmpa, at one of the public meetings, or by mailing or hand delivering comments to:
GMP Amendment c/o Superintendent
Point Reyes National Seashore
1 Bear Valley Road
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
For more information, please see our GMP Amendment Frequently Asked Questions page, our GMP Amendment website, or Point Reyes National Seashore's website.
Source: NPS
