Point Reyes Light - November 24, 1999
GGNRA officials will keep stables open for now
Despite previous indications to the contrary, Park Service officials have decided to re-issue temporary operating permits for all three privately managed stables in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
At a meeting of GGNRA Advisory Commissioners last week, Park Service officials outlined their intent to grant "one-year special use permits" to the operators of Tennessee Valley and Rodeo Valley stables, as well as to the Golden Gate Dairy stables in Muir Beach.
GGNRA is currently drawing up the permits, which will come with a list of conditions to guarantee safety, water quality, and the preservation of the park's natural and cultural resources.
Connie Berto, advisory board member of the Marin Horse Council, said she feels that the decision was the result of increased cooperation between the equestrian community and the GGNRA. "We have had a very positive attitude about our meetings with the federal officials," she said. "And we have felt all along that each [stable] is valuable in its own right."
In May of 1998, Berto helped form the Horse Council's Equestrian Protection Committee, which has negotiated extensively with GGNRA officials to keep the three stables open. After a series of water quality tests conducted from 1993 to 1996 showed that water draining from the stables did not meet the standards set by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, GGNRA considered consolidating the stables into one facility at the end of Tennessee Valley.
When the special-use permits for Tennessee and Rodeo Valley stables expired in 1995 and 1996 respectively, the future of all three stables grew cloudy as the Park Service declined to offer any new long-term contracts for managing the facilities.
The occupancy permit for Muir Beach's Golden Gate Dairy stables expired last March.
Through various land-management practices, GGNRA and the local equestrian group have cooperated to bring the three stables into compliance with both state and federal environmental standards. At the Golden Gate Dairy stables, which is managed by Ocean Riders, extensive work was done to restore nearby creek habitats, and to redirect drainage away from sensitive areas like the Big Lagoon wetland.
Berto said the equestrian group will continue to work with the GGNRA to keep the stables in line with the permit requirements. "Things look pretty good," she said. "If the water quality issue is satisfied, then what possible justification would they have to shut them down."