Citing environmental and precedent-setting concerns, federal park advisors Saturday denied requests by the Clayton Lewis Institute to maintain a day-use studio and educational program at Laird's Landing in the Point Reyes National Seashore.
A 30-yard-wide cove, Laird's Landing on the west side of Tomales Bay was home to the artist and fisherman Clayton Lewis, said to have inspired a group of at least forty artists and supporters last year to create the nonprofit Institute.
Institute directors had asked the Citizens Advisor Commission to the National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area to allow two years for planning day use of Lewis' studio and the rest of Laird's Landing for educational demonstrations, such as seine netting - Lewis' preferred method of fishing.
"This place should continue to be lightly habituated to show what little impact a human can have on a place and what great impact a place can have on a human," Institute Director John Gouldthorpe of Point Reyes Station told commissioners.
Institute supporters pointed out that other national parks have artist-in-residence programs, and that they are important arrangements for society.
"It is the philosophy, writing, and imagery of artists that has helped natural parks preserve areas as natural resources rather than glorified resorts," said Richard Blair, a former National Park Service photographer who lived in Yosemite. "If it wasn't for artists such as Thoreau, John Muir, and [Frederick] Olmstead, there wouldn't be a national park system."
A majority of commissioners, however, said that such a program at Laird's Landing would set a precedent for exclusive use on other Seashore properties and could potentially cause damage to the environment of the cove.
"The shoreline on that bay is being overused, and it is impacting the harbor seals by lowering pupping rates," Seashore Superintendent Don Neubacher told commissioners. "If you want harbor seals in the bay, you have to reduce the use."
Several commissioners agreed with warnings that the land could be "loved to death" by too many people.
Commissioner Trent Orr said Laird's Landing is a vital resource for the park, and commissioners want it returned to a natural state. Allowing someone to live there also would set a "terrible precedent" because leases for residents living within the park's shore - for example, at Duck Cove - expire soon.
While newer buildings at Laird's Landing will be demolished, older buildings built by Miwok Indian families will be preserved. One of the buildings slated for demolition is the studio built by Lewis, in which he lived for 31 years.
The Laird's Landing boathouse, however, will be structurally reinforced and possibly designated with a plaque displaying historical information about Miwok who lived there until 1955.
Institute members said Lewis' home represents a transitional period in American architecture before homes were routinely designed by government building codes.
"It is a landscape of the Bohemian Era," said Leslie Simons of Marin Heritage. "This entire complex of cottages may be eligible for preservation even if it is not 50 years old."
However, park officials said the newer buildings are falling apart, lack adequate utilities, have a failing septic system, and intrude on a historic scene.
Richard Kirschman of Dogtown told commissioners, "We're prepared to make the repairs necessary. It may be too early to know the place Clayton Lewis will hold in the world of art and architecture."
Opposing that proposal was Anne West of Inverness, who said institute members "can buy their own land across the bay at Marshall."
Several of the 13 commissioners suggested the institute continue working with park officials to at least have some input on developing campsites or an exhibit in the boathouse.
"We respectfully decline," said institute Director Gouldthorpe. "I am sure you will do a good job of that. We had hoped for much more."
The one dissenting commissioner was Naomi Gray, who abstained on voting to demolish Lewis' studio. She said it seemed the institute was willing to bring the buildings up to code and make other improvements to the property.
Gray chided fellow commissioners for saying the institute has made little headway with their project since February.
"You can't raise money unless you have something to show that you're raising money for," Gray said, calling the institute a grass-roots organization pitted against elitist environmental organizations.
A majority of commissioners rejected Gray's argument, as well as a proposed artist-in-residence site to be developed elsewhere in the park. Several commissioners noted the Seashore's masterplan calls for maintaining natural wilderness areas.
"There is no precedent in the masterplan," said Commissioner Howard Cogswell. "There should be a uniformity of application for the type of use. As leases are terminated, they should revert to a natural area."
Said Commissioner Ed Wayburn, "I am sympathetic to the vision and desires of Clayton Lewis Institute to preserve the work of a great artist and a great man, but at present his significance [in art history] is not known.
"This area is unique and extremely valuable in its natural resources. ... We have an obligation to the taxpayers of the United States and the people of the United States who have established this place as a national park."