Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore, Tule Elk

Point Reyes National Seashore; Should Private Ranching Be Allowed on National Park Lands?

A Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) Bull Tule elk with Barbed Wire Caught in His Antlers

Skeleton of a PRNS Bull Elk Who Died Because Barbed Wire Caught in Antlers Prevented Him from Opening His Mouth.

I was on a Marin TV show entitled “The People’s Environmental News.”  It’s hosted by Barbara McVeigh and and Charlie Siler.  The show was about Point Reyes National Seashore and the planning and NEPA process currently underway for whether 28,000 acres of national park land should be managed for national park purposes or for private ranching purposes.  Environmentalists want the land to be managed in accordance with the laws requiring the park to protect, preserve and restore the natural resources, including wildlife such as the tule elk.   The ranchers want the park to be managed to maximize profit regardless of its effect on wildlife.  That requires removing the elk because they eat grass and the ranchers want their cows to get every blade of grass.  Thus, the ranchers want the elk removed/shot.  They can’t be moved outside the park because they have Johne’s disease which they got from the cattle.  For the past 40 years or so the National Park Service has gone along with whatever the ranchers wanted.  No, I’m not kidding.  The show can be seen here.

I was also on a show last April with Laura Cunningham of the Western Watersheds Project and Skyler Thomas of White Shark Videos.  That show was also about ranching and protecting the elk at Point Reyes Seashore.  That show can be seen here.

 

Point Reyes National Seashore, Tule Elk

Cows in Creek; Point Reyes National Seashore

I was at Point Reyes National Seashore last Thursday. K Ranch beef cows were in Kehoe Creek again. There is a fence just a bit beyond the top border of the video that fails occasionally. This scene is the result. The fence should be relocated to the top of the large slope above the creek to keep manure out of the creek in wet periods, but that would remove many acres from the ranch’s grazing area. I emailed the Park Service about the cows and they replied that the rancher had been notified.

There is a planning process underway to determine if ranching should continue on these national park lands or whether the lands should be managed to protect and restore them to a natural condition as required in national parks. Perhaps the most controversial issue is whether the 125 elk that roam through the park’s ranching area should be shot because they eat grass and the ranchers feel that as permittees on park lands their cows are entitled to all the grass. The Park Service has never allocated any forage to elk or other wildlife in the permits.

If you look and listen carefully, you’ll see the top cow defecate and fart at the end of the video. Kehoe Creek, which begins and ends within the Seashore, is rated as one of the most polluted streams in California.

Brown Bear

Brown Bear, Lake Clark National Park

This is a photo of brown bear in Lake Clark National Park.

Brown Bear, Lake Clark National Park

This is a photo from a few years ago in Lake Clark National Park. This female brown bear was feeding on sedge grass, a very important food source until the salmon spawning runs begin.  Her cub was just out of the photo.

African Lion, Bald Eagle, Cows, Coyote, Eagle, elephant, Elk, Favorite Images, Guanaco, Landscape, Lion, Point Reyes National Seashore, Red Fox, San Francisco, Serengeti National Park, Torres del Paine National Park, Tule Elk

Favorite Blog Photos of 2019

Here are some of my favorite photos that I blogged about in 2019.

This is a photo of a bull tule elk feeding at sunset.A bull tule elk feeds at sunset inside the elk enclosure at Point Reyes National Seashore.

At Point Reyes National Seashore 400-500 elk are kept locked up behind an 8-foot tall woven-wire fence to keep them away from the ranchers who live on and control 28,000 acres of park land and raise 6,000 dairy cows, beef cattle and sheep.  NPS bought their ranches decades ago, but never removed them.  The 28,000 acres are managed as the ranchers want, not as lands in a national park are supposed to be managed.  I know of no other national park where wildlife is locked up like in a zoo for the visitors to see.

This is a night photo of the San Francisco skyline with Angel Island in the foreground and Alcatraz in the midground.A night view of Angel Island, Alcatraz and San Francisco.

Photo of some mountain peaks and fog at dawn in Torres del Paine National ParkMountains and fog at dawn in Torres del Paine National Park

This is a photo of a mother guanaco and her young before sunrise in Torres del Paine National Park.A mother guanaco and her chulengo appear before sunrise in Torres del Paine National Park.

Red Fox Vixen with Snowshoe HareA red fox mom returns to her den with an arctic hare to feed her kits in Yellowstone National Park.

This is a photo of three lionesses who are on the hunt. One is wearing a research collar.Three lionesses are on the hunt in Serengeti National Park.

This is a photo of a mature bald eagle perched on a limb.A bald eagle perches on a limb in Alaska.

This is a photo of a male elephant walking away from a wetland in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.A male elephant walks near a wetland in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.

Photo of female lion surveying her domain in Serengeti National Park.An African lioness surveys her domain in Serengeti National Park.

A coyote stops and looks at the camera in Point Reyes Seashore just before the sun sets.A coyote stops just before sunset as it travels across a ranch pasture in Point Reyes National Seashore.

The National Park Service purchased the ranches several decades ago, but it has never made the ranchers leave.

A bald eagle lands too close to another and gets bitten in the neck.One bald eagle bites another at Homer, Alaska.

Photo of a coyote on a ranch pasture in Point Reyes National Seashore.A coyote walks across a ranch pasture full of non-native European grasses in Point Reyes Seashore.

The National Park Service prioritizes private ranching over wildlife in Point Reyes National Seashore.  This is the worst example of privatizing a national park that I am aware of.  It involves 28,000 acres of national park land.  If anyone knows of a worse example, please let me know.