In the summer and fall of 2024, the multigenerational ranching families in the Point Reyes National Seashore were participating in mediation talks to end the lawsuit brought by the Resource Renewal Institute and two other environmental groups. It appears they were being pressured to agree on terms to relinquish their statutory right to lease their ranches.
Little did they—or the public—know that in June 2024, the California legislature appropriated $10 million for the California Wildlife Conservation Board to be “available for Point Reyes.” Testimony before the conservation board this August revealed that the funds were to be used for the Nature Conservancy to develop and implement a plan “to install improvements for managing grazing on the ranchlands” at Point Reyes.
Had the ranchers been aware that there was $10 million in state funding available to develop and install systems to better manage grazing on their ranches, many if not most may have declined to relinquish their statutory rights.
It’s outrageous that the state appropriated $10 million for use at Point Reyes without the ranchers being made aware of it. It’s outrageous that our community, desperate for affordable housing, was left in the dark when state funds could be used to enable the ranchers to continue, thus preventing the loss of jobs and housing for over 90 people.
The Nature Conservancy will continue grazing, because fire fuels must be controlled. Anti-ranching advocates oppose “commercial grazing,” but the fact is, all managed grazing is commercial. No one will donate the labor it requires. It’s only because of the intergenerational commitment to these lands that the ranchers have managed these lands with short-term leases for the last 25 years. It will also be challenging to manage grazing on this unique peninsula, with its varied conditions, for ranchers who are unfamiliar with it. Years of experience in managing grazing in another climate simply will not translate.
As a first step to remedy the ill effects of our elected state officials’ lack of transparency, Gov. Gavin Newsom should direct the California Wildlife Conservation Board to condition the state’s $10 million grant on the Nature Conservancy giving all the seashore ranchers, who had statutory rights to lease the land, the option to stay on or return to the ranches and participate in developing and implementing the appropriate ranchland improvements.
Judy Teichman is a retired attorney who lives in Point Reyes Station.