In a webinar last Wednesday, spokespeople for the Nature Conservancy, the Point Reyes National Seashore, and the Department of the Interior offered updates on their cooperative stewardship plan that seeks to improve wildlife habitat and water quality while protecting cultural sites in the park. The presentation came amid the final phase of a short-term grazing program at the historic F and G Ranches.
Karen Budd-Falen, associate deputy secretary at the D.O.I., said that the development of a long-term grazing plan for the 16,000 acres of former pastureland is still in its early stages. “This will be done in full view of the public and is not, despite what I’ve heard claimed, some type of secret backroom deal,” she said.
Once a framework is developed this fall, T.N.C. will issue requests for proposals. It expects to award multiple grazing contracts by early next year.
Sasha Gennet, T.N.C.’s science and policy adviser, said that virtual fencing, in which cows are outfitted with GPS collars that provide vibration cues, will soon roll out. The approach will allow both wildlife and water to move freely. Roadside wire fencing will remain to ensure public safety and protect resources, but with new elk road crossings.
Over 200 people signed up for the webinar, and some asked how water quality will be improved if cattle are kept on the land, to which panelists responded that water samples will be taken continuously and grazing adjusted as needed.
One participant raised the issue of public access to the former ranchlands. The seashore’s superintendent, Anne Altman, said the new grazing areas will be open to the public. “We do hear from folks that things like fencing feel like barriers,” she said. “I think virtual fencing will mitigate [that] and make it feel more welcoming.”