Page 23 - Sonoma County Gazette 6-20

By Leslie Curchack
In my many messages
Swinging around 30 degrees to the left I spotted 2 cows on the same bluff that I was standing on. They look relatively harmless, but if you imagine 5000 of them spread on the hills and
edges of the seashore lands, that would be
a lot of cow poop and pee, sometimes with dangerous bacteria,
with thoughts and concerns about loving the earth, I don’t think I’ve ever honed in on
a specific issue with political implications.
However, right now, I am fired up about what is happening with the Point Reyes National Seashore.
This treasure of a
wilderness, a personal haven for me, belongs to every citizen of and visitor to this country, not to mention belonging to the wildlife and habitats native to the area. It provides open space and wilderness as a recreational opportunity, and as a spiritual and health benefit for all.
that is running into the creeks, the lagoon, the bay and the ocean every day, creating pollution and destruction of native ecosystems.
Yet more and more, our parks seem to be under assault for purposes of privatization and industry. Point Reyes is on the cusp of a land management decision which highlights this trend, and affects us all of us for generations to come with the direction it takes.
In a National Seashore, an enclave of nature specifically set aside to be preserved and protected in its natural state, this seems very wrong. Also very wrong is the situation with the tule elk, an ecologically important part of the landscape, which are strictly managed i.e. fenced and killed, because the ranchers believe they compete with the cattle for grazing.
Even if you might never be a visitor to this one national seashore, please bear with me to find the connection to your own deeply loved piece of beautiful public land that you would not want to be ruined.
Our best chance to defend nature in this national park, or any public land, is citizen action. If this article speaks to you, please consider taking 5 minutes to email or post something online - to someone - from the list below in the Citizens’ Action Guide, or use the short list.
Two conservation groups recently served notice on the National Park Service that cattle on the Point Reyes National Seashore are known to be carriers of a bacterium causing Johne’s disease, which infects Park wildlife and poses a potential public health hazard for visitors.
Or join the group discussions onlime to learn from the experts about the contaminated water issues and more - it is a growing and dynamic group.
Among other negative impacts, the Park Service is planning to put the entire visiting public at risk for contracting a serious zoonotic disease so they can extend a handful of commercial cattle operations that should have moved to private lands years ago.
Believe me, I know how overwhelming the requests are, to save so many things we desperately need to save, protect, defend, restore, support, help. But for this imminent decision about the Point Reyes National Seashore
to be announced this June 2020 - all I can do is ask you, now - and be ever so grateful to those can respond.
The ranchers sold their land for millions of dollars to the NPS decades ago, with limited leases, but 24 ranchers continue to graze 5,000 beef and dairy cows on 28,000 acres of the national park, and they want new 20 year leases with an option to expand and diversify their commercial operations.
CALL, WRITE and SPEAK OUT
U.S. Representative Jared Huffman:
(415) 258-9657; huffman.house.gov/contact/email-me
U.S. Senator Kamala Harris:
(202) 224-3553; harris.senate.gov/contact/email
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein:
(202) 224-3841; feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me
U.S. House Com. on Natural Resources, Raul Grijalva:
grijalva.house.gov/contact-raul
Regional Director of NPS, Stanley Austin:
(415) 623-2100; Stan_austin@nps.gov
Complete Contact List, U.S. Federal/State Officials:
https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
WARCH the films:
The Shame of Pt. Reyes – Skyler Thomas, White Shark Video
The Betrayal of Point Reyes – Tony Sehgal, Silver Reaction Media
READ San Francisco Chronical article
by its Lead Science Reporter Peter Fimrite “At Point Reyes, the contest is elk vs. agriculture. The people vote for the elk.”
MORE info @ www. SonomaCountyGazette.com
91% of local people in a required public poll told the NPS
they want the park, the wildlife and the climate protected - that they do not support the private ranchers. Our National Park Service responded by saying the public’s opinion on how the Park is managed and protected
does not matter.
These issues are always complicated, and I don’t know everything about
this one yet. However, I’ve attached below two pictures taken at Point Reyes
to illustrate one issue which seems obvious - degradation of water quality. The long view is of Abbott’s Lagoon (above) with the ocean beyond, a breathtaking natural landscape.
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