PD Editorial: Point Reyes ranches are a cornerstone of the park

Point Reyes National Seashore is unique among America's national parks.

Working ranches, like elephant seals and Tule elk, are a hallmark of the park, which was established to help preserve agriculture in western Marin County.

Indeed, dairy farming at Point Reyes dates to 1867 - three years before its namesake lighthouse was built and almost a century before President John F. Kennedy signed legislation designating the scenic peninsula as a national seashore in 1962.

Over the next 10 years, West Marin ranchers and farmers voluntarily sold much of the park's acreage to the federal government. Many of the same families are still working the land almost four decades later under leases with the National Park Service.

The “pastoral zone,” where agricultural use is allowed, comprises a little more than 20% of the park's land. Nearly half of its 71,000 acres are protected as wilderness, free from commercial activities. Point Reyes also has 178 historic structures, and it is home to 28 threatened or endangered species.

No other national park has a comparable mix.

“This is a really unusual place,” Cicely Muldoon, the park's superintendent, told The Press Democrat editorial board.

To their credit, National Park Service officials are working with ranchers and open space advocates to ensure that Point Reyes retains its distinctive character.

A draft land-use management plan released last month includes guidelines for diversified agricultural activities in the pastoral zone, potentially including some additional crops as well as ag tourism, a natural fit for the ranches and for the park's educational mission.

If the plan is adopted, it will clear the way to fulfill a promise made in 2012 by then-Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to renew leases for 20 years with the two dozen ranchers operating inside the national seashore's boundaries as well as the adjacent Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

At the same time, the Drakes Bay oyster farm was evicted, leaving some people angry. But the oyster farm was in an area that Congress designated wilderness in 1976, and the owner was paid $80,000 and given 30-plus years notice to vacate. A subsequent owner wanted to change the terms of the deal. Salazar, justifiably, refused.

The ranches aren't in the wilderness zone.

Ranchers presently have five-year agreements. They say longer leases will allow them to better plan for their businesses and allow them to qualify for bank loans so they can maintain and upgrade facilities, including some of the park's historic structures.

Point Reyes has about $72 million in deferred maintenance, a list of projects that might get whittled down with the assistance of leaseholders if they have some more security.

“At the end of the day, we are co-managing this land,” said David Evans, a beef rancher whose family has been in business on the peninsula for multiple generations.

The initial reaction to the management plan has focused on its provisions for culling the Drake's Beach elk herd, one of three in the park.

The largest herd, about 430 strong, is at Tomales Point, behind a fence in the park's wilderness area. The Drakes Beach herd roams into the pastoral zone, competing with cattle for grazing land. The herd would be limited to 120 under the management plan; the most recent count is 124.

Rangers relocated elk in the past failed, but they returned. So some would be shot to control the size of the herd. That's a common approach to game management, and the take would be limited, but park officials might get less pushback if they try relocation again.

Bottom line: The historic ranches are a cornerstone of Point Reyes National Seashore, and they should remain.

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