Point Reyes Light - December 4, 2003

Parks mull amount of ranching in future

By Dave Mitchell

The future of agriculture in the Point Reyes National Seashore and the Olema Valley region of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area this week was opened up for public discussion.

The Park Service on Tuesday unveiled five "concepts" for updating the parks’ General Management Plan, and the topics up for review range from how much effort to put into maintaining historic buildings to whether ranching should be expanded or reduced.

John Dell’Osso, chief of Interpretation for the National Seashore, said the "concepts" just unveiled grew out of three years of public meetings and that more such meetings will be held before the 1980 General Management Plan is eventually changed.

Based on public reaction to the alternative "concepts," Dell’Osso said, a Management Plan and environmental impact statement will not be finished for another year and that the final plan won’t be adopted until the year after that. A workshop on all this is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 14 in the Red Barn at National Seashore headquarters.

Proposals in the Concepts Newsletter 2003 unveiled this week vary greatly. At one extreme, Concept 3 would like to get rid of at least some of the ranches now leased to families who – back in the 1960s – were forced to sell their land to the National Seashore. These ranchers and their children have been allowed to lease their family lands back from the park, but ranchers who in the 1960s did not own the lands they ranched were refused lease-backs and had to leave.

"Beef and dairy ranching would continue," says Concept 3, "until original permittees discontinue ranching activities." Doesn’t this amount to over time phasing out ranching on Point Reyes? "It would not be phased out," Dell’Osso replied. "It would be reduced."

The chief of Interpretation in turn pointed to Concept 5, which calls for "ranching and grazing [to] be expanded to preserve the agricultural character of the Point Reyes National Seashore and the northern district of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area." Most of that expansion, said Dell’Osso, refers to GGNRA land in the Olema Valley.

What makes a site sacred?

Concept 5 also recommends that "an archeological zone...be established to protect the sacred sites and cultural identity of the Coast Miwok people."

What would count as a "sacred site" and what if other groups claim different sites within the park are sacred to them? At issue are prehistoric archeological sites, which are legally defined by the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Dell’Osso responded.

Human remains and "funerary" artifacts, such as those that might be buried with a tribal leader, are the main concern, he said. Such items are supposed to be reburied where they were originally found, he explained. What if the artifacts have scientific value? The Park Service is still bound by the federal act, Dell’Osso replied.

Summary of the ‘concepts’

Here is a brief look at the five concepts. The public can comment on them through January by writing Superintendent, Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes Station, CA 94956.

Concept 1: Keep managing the parks pretty much the way the Park Service is doing it now. "The ‘Cultural Landscape Zone’ would continue in operation. [Ranchers’] leases would be renewed and continued under existing agreements." Attention would be given to "preserving the historic agricultural scene." Sites sacred to the Coast Miwok would be protected but "not marked to prevent disturbance, and sacred sites could be accessed only with an appropriate authority."

Concept 2: The most attention "would be focused on the preservation of native species and natural processes and the restoration of biodiversity....Resource preservation and restoration would be the overriding consideration." The eradication of non-native plants and animals "would be expanded" although, as Dell’Osso acknowledged, the document is "vague" as to which species should go first. The "most historically significant sites and structures" would be well maintained, and at least "all statewide and nationally significant sites" would be preserved. The fate of second-tier historic sites, such as the Randall House in the Olema Valley, is not mentioned. "Sacred and endangered archeological sites would also receive priority and be protected and maintained."

Concept 3: Historic buildings would receive the same maintenance they do now. Ranching would continue, as would the removal of non-native species. "A backcountry camping zone for low-density, low-impact camping would be opened. Elsewhere in the parks, new group and individual camps would open and expand access." Also recommended is "a developed, drive-in campground."

Concept 4: "The parks would be managed to provide a wider range of visitor experiences and would reach out to a greater diversity of groups of all ages, abilities, and economic and ethnic [backgrounds].... Educational offerings would be expanded for school groups and the public through science-based programs at an ocean life education center and throughout the parks... Camping opportunities would be expanded."

Concept 5: "The parks’ 297 historic structures and archeological resources would be protected with a special emphasis on preserving working agricultural landscapes." Ranching and grazing would be expanded in the Olema Valley. An archeological zone would be established to protect the "cultural identity of the Coast Miwok people" and sites sacred to them. Two more education centers would open, one focusing on Native American history.

Planning schedule

The Park Service does not expect to have a draft of a new General Management Plan and its environmental-impact statement ready before the winter of 2005.

Between now and then, the Park Service has scheduled a "cultural-evaluation study for Tocaloma," an historic hamlet east of Olema. The GGNRA has acquired Tocaloma and neighboring Jewell with the intention of razing most of their buildings.

After receiving public comment on the draft plan and its environmental statement, a final plan will be prepared by the winter of 2006.

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