Point Reyes Light- October 8, 1998
Jewell and Tocaloma to get wiped off the map
The whistlestop towns of Jewell and Tocaloma, once bustling weekend destinations and still home to about 30 residents, will be almost completely absorbed into the Golden Gate National Recreation Area within the next three years.
During a public meeting at the Dance Palace last week, Point Reyes National Seashore Supt. Don Neubacher reminded a scant crowd of 15, including some Tocaloma residents, that the two villages are soon due to become managed pasture and landscape areas of the National Park Service.
"I know it doesn't make a lot of people happy," he said, "but park policy is to make Tocaloma and Jewell public property."
Over the next three years, eight residential leases with the Park Service will expire. The 25-year leases in Tocaloma and Jewell were all signed shortly after Congress authorized the Park Service to establish the GGNRA in 1972.
After 2001, however, only the McIsaac and Cheda ranches, which hold agricultural leases, and two other life-estate lease holders will have active leases in Tocaloma, Neubacher said.
Many of the residents who rent their homes from the original leaseholders will most likely be displaced, and Neubacher said Park Service will meet with those residents before their leases expire.
The superintendent said he cannot extend any of the residential leases except under "special circumstances," such as allowing a few extra months for tenants to prepare a new home. Park superintendents may only negotiate lease extensions for agricultural tenants who ranched their property before it was part of the park system, he explained.
By letting property owners prepay their rent when the land changed hands nearly 25 years ago, the Park Service was allowing a transitional time for tenants to relocate, Neubacher said. He added that he has "a lot of empathy with the people making the transition."
The park has no formal plans for the Tocaloma properties once the leases expire, nor has it determined if any of the buildings have historical value for an area that in its heyday boasted a three-story hotel.
Neubacher said the buildings might possibly be used as a ranger station for law enforcement or firefighting, a community conference center, or seasonal ranger housing.
"We're looking at different options for the buildings," he said. "It's not our intention right now to tear anything down, but we haven't done an assessment. Over time, we'll know if there's anything to save for historical value."
Other information from the two-hour meeting included:
Roughly $1 million in repairs were made to the National Seashore following last winter's El Niño storms, including a $600,000 fix to Limantour Road. The Estero trail remains closed indefinitely, however.
The Park Service plans to conduct controlled burns on over 500 acres this year, including a burn next month along Mt. Vision Road to create a buffer zone between the park wilderness and the residential areas of Inverness.
Some 45 tule elk will be culled from the herd on Pierce Point this winter and relocated near Limantour Beach. "It's pretty lush out there," noted John Dell'Osso, the park's chief of interpretation. "It's probably a great place for elk to be."
Over 2 million exotic plants have been removed from the park in the last few years. Neubacher said the park is pressuring Caltrans to help remove broom along Highway 1. "How do I describe broom," he asked. "It's scary stuff."
Park visitation has leveled off since 1991, reaching a plateau of about 2.5 million tourists a year.