Hearings Set For Point Reyes​ Ranching, Elk Management Proposals

MARIN COUNTY, CA – The National Park Service is holding two hearings this month on six proposals regarding cattle and dairy ranching and tule elk management on 28,000 acres in the Point Reyes National Seashore and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Marin County.

The six alternatives include issuing 20-year agricultural lease permits to two-dozen beef and dairy ranches, reduced ranching and prohibiting dairy ranching.

The National Park Service's preferred alternative would allow existing ranch families to continue beef and dairy operations with 20-year permits.

The tule elk management alternatives include removing the Drakes Beach tule elk herd, setting a threshold of 120 adult elk and taking no action to reduce the population growth of free-range elk that compete with cattle for forage in Point Reyes. The National Park Service's preferred alternative is setting a limit of 120 elk and using lethal removal efforts to maintain it.

The Center for Biological Diversity opposes the National Park Service's preferred alternative. Spokesman Jeff Miller said the park service's preferred 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."

"The plan would destroy wildlife habitat, harm endangered species, degrade water quality and lead to killing of some of the park's most iconic wildlife, including tule elk," Miller said in a written statement.

A public review and comment on the alternatives is open until Sept. 23. The public hearings on the draft environmental impact statement for the General Management Plan Amendment are 5-7 p.m. Aug. 27 at the West Marin School gym in Point Reyes Station and Aug. 28 at the Bay Model Visitor Center in Sausalito.

– Bay City News Service