The National Park Service unveiled records authorizing land-management changes in various Point Reyes National Seashore areas in California.
"Point Reyes National Seashore protects diverse natural and cultural resources that can serve as a model where wilderness and ranching can coexist side by side," Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, Shannon Estenoz, said.
Calling for approximately 1,800 acres of the area to be reassigned from the ranchland zone to the scenic landscape zone, the modification plans for the livestock-friendly park were confirmed earlier this week. The release also suggested a reduction of manure and nutrient management and forage production in that area.
The establishment, tasked with announcing all lands currently under agricultural lease/permit within Point Reyes National Seashore, the north district of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The changes are intended to display a "model where wilderness and ranching can coexist side-by-side.”
"We recognize and deeply respect the passion that so many people have about how to best care for this special place and look forward to ongoing stakeholder engagement in the years to come,” Estenoz said.
The decision-based record also indicates an expanded Scenic Landscape Zone, the Drakes Beach Tule Elk will be given a population threshold of 140 elk. The Limantour herd will be allowed to expand in population and locations, but females will be discouraged from expanding into ranching areas, NPS notes.
The outline also discourages the creation of new elk herds where active ranching is taking place, as well as the removal of animals. The Tule Elk were reintroduced to the park in 1978 to strengthen the community’s native biodiversity. The three herds were spotted at the planning area, including the Drakes Beach herd and the Limantour herd. In 2020, 294 were recorded among the two free-range herds.
In November 2012, then-Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, directed the NPS to extend ranching leases to 20 years and refused to renew the Drakes Bay Oyster Company's lease. Four years later, the NPS was sued regarding the planning process and use of lands in the planning area for ranches and dairy.
According to the record of decision, the plaintiffs, NPS, ranchers, and Marin County entered into settlement negotiations and a multi-party agreement was approved July 14, 2017. That agreement included that the NPS would prepare a General Management Plan Amendment, as well as an Environmental Impact Statement, focused on the management of the lands that are leased in Point Reyes for ranch use, and the north district of Golden Gate.
“If the leaseholders can’t follow the rules that are currently in place and the Park Service cannot enforce those rules, whether it’s for lack of oversight capacity or lack of funding to enforce the current rules, why make these agreements even more complex?” Programs director of the Resource Renewal Institute Chance Cutrano said according to the Mercury News. “Why make it even more difficult for park agencies to manage increasingly complex plans?”
