Last month, the Point Reyes National Seashore released a summation of public comments it received during two public workshops and a week-long comment period held last November about its forthcoming ranch management plan. The aim was to solicit extra input after a six-week scoping period last summer for a plan that will cover issues like lease terms, tule elk in the pastoral zone, succession planning, pasture management and the potential allowance of diversification efforts like chickens, row crops and farm stays. Compared to last summer, when over 3,000 people submitted comments, just under three dozen people took advantage of the extra period. (Ninety five people attended a public workshop on ranching practices, and a slightly higher number attended the tule elk workshop.) As in the initial comment period, suggestions ranged from ending ranching entirely to facilitating different kinds of agriculture and relocating the tule elk, which eat forage on some leased ranches. Some comments addressed not just the plan but the workshops and the process itself. One comment, by an unnamed individual associated with the West Marin Fund, lauded the workshop. “The organization seemed well thought out and afford [sic] opportunities for everyone to comment,” it read. A couple other comments praised the workshops. But a national environmental nonprofit, the Center for Biological Diversity, objected to an “unbalanced scoping process.” “NPS has proposed a range of ‘options’ crafted through extensive meeting with ranchers…and has presented these as the only options in the NPS’ publications and at public meeting,” without detailing “an option to return such land to its natural state.” The center’s and a few other’s comments also protested the upcoming environmental assessment; instead, they called for an environmental impact statement, a more detailed and expensive process. Melanie Gunn, the outreach coordinator for the seashore, said in an email, “Since, in this case, our basic proposal is to pursue increasing the length of permits available to park ranchers from 10 to 20 years with existing beef and dairy operations, we believe that an [assessment] is [the] appropriate choice. This decision was made at the Seashore. We’ve worked very hard to make this an inclusive and collaborative process, and are pretty encouraged that we hear this plan has spurred direct conversations between ranchers and environmentalists.” A draft of the plan is expected this fall.