West Marin stands at a turning point. For decades, our community showed the world how working farms and protected landscapes could coexist and even strengthen one another. Today, that legacy is slipping away. Organic dairy farms are disappearing, families are being forced out and the original promise behind the Point Reyes National Seashore is being broken. But this moment also offers a chance to renew that promise—by restoring the collaborative vision that made this region thrive.
Across rural California, the signs are unmistakable: farm closures, shrinking school enrollment, diminished affordable housing and policy decisions out of step with on-the-ground realities. West Marin is no exception. The unraveling of our agricultural community, a once-thriving system built on collaboration, threatens not only our food system but the ecological health and cultural diversity of this place.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Marin farmers, environmentalists and government leaders built one of the first economically sustainable farming models in the country. My family’s Straus Dairy Farm—the first certified organic dairy farm west of the Mississippi—helped pioneer this movement. Today, 85 percent of the dairies in our region are certified organic, a testament to decades of mentorship, shared stewardship and policies linking environmental protection with agricultural viability.
The creation of the Point Reyes National Seashore depended on ranching families who sold their land to create a public park. In return, the government committed to keeping this land in agriculture. That agreement preserved both open space and a working rural community. With 20 percent of Marin’s agricultural land located in the seashore, the balance between wilderness and food production remains essential.
My parents helped found both the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin and the Marin Agricultural Land Trust to secure an agricultural community for future generations. Yet in the past five years alone, Marin has lost 10 organic dairy farms, including six in the seashore. This loss directly affects the supply of organic dairy products in stores and public schools statewide, compromising Gov. Gavin Newsom’s effort to provide local organic food to all public schools in California.
Skilled agricultural workers are essential to our farms and our businesses. Like most dairy farms, Straus provides housing at no cost because these families are an integral part of our daily work. They are woven into the fabric of our farms, our communities and our culture. The eviction of dairy workers and their families from the seashore is a heartbreaking and profound loss for our communities.
The truth is that regenerative grazing practices work. Some argue that limited conservation grazing will protect the ecosystem, and the park service and Nature Conservancy plan to rely on it to manage the seashore’s pastoral lands. But in practice, this approach fails to manage grasslands effectively. Without year-round management, invasive species will spread, soil health will decline and fire risk will increase.
By contrast, regenerative agricultural practices—such as compost application, targeted seeding and rotational grazing—increase forage production, sequester carbon, reduce erosion and enhance native plant and animal populations. When farms disappear, so does this stewardship. What remains are unmanaged landscapes that become tinder for wildfires. Supporting organic dairies employing regenerative grazing practices is not just about food—it is about climate resilience and public safety.
Straus Dairy Farm’s carbon-neutral model has been recognized internationally, including at the 2024 World Dairy Summit in Paris, France, affirming that our region is a living example of climate-smart agriculture and sustainable stewardship. It is not just about farming; it is about community, culture and a way of life in balance with the environment. Losing this model would be a loss not only for West Marin but for the world.
West Marin can lead again, but only if we act with urgency and unity. The $10 million the state has set aside for restoration in the seashore should be redirected to rebuilding the agricultural community by supporting organic farming, providing affordable housing for farmworkers and revitalizing our schools. These investments would strengthen our ecological and economic resilience.
I urge Gov. Newsom to work with the Department of the Interior to restore the Point’s pastoral zone, ensuring long-term leases, agricultural continuity and a functional working landscape. Environmental and agricultural organizations must also return to their founding mission, protecting both the environment and agricultural viability. Collaboration built this community. Collaboration can save it.
If we honor the original agreement and reinvest in our farming community, West Marin can once again be a global model of resilience where healthy food systems and communities thrive and landscapes remain open, protected and productive. Let West Marin shine again as proof that farms, food and community can coexist and thrive. The promise made more than 50 years ago can still be kept, but only if we act now.
Albert Straus is a second-generation farmer and the founder of Straus Family Creamery. He is a lifelong Marshall resident.
Correction: This piece was amended to clarify that the government did not commit to maintaining agriculture in the seashore in perpetuity. The ranchers’ original lease agreements were for up to 30-year terms. Some believe those leases were intended to be renewed in perpetuity, while others argue the opposite.