Don't Let Cows Run Elk Out of Our Parks
- by: Center for Biological Diversity
- recipient: Melanie Gunn, Outreach Coordinator Point Reyes National Seashore
Steve Kinsey Marin County Board of Supervisors
For the 2.5 million people who visit California's Point Reyes National Seashore every year, a major attraction is the chance to catch sight of the area's magnificent tule elk, reintroduced in 1978 after being wiped out more than a century before.
But now ranchers who enjoy subsidized grazing leases in the park are targeting the elk for eating grass they believe rightly belongs to their cattle -- and they're even characterizing the native elk as "invasive."
Ranchers are pressuring the National Park Service to remove elk or build large fences to keep them out of ranching areas, and supposedly "green" politicians such as Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey and Northern California Congressman Jared Huffman are joining them.
The manufactured elk controversy comes as the Park Service is initiating a planning process for the 18,000 acres of cattle ranches in the park, and considering extending ranching leases for up to 20 years.
Tell the Park Service and politicians that tule elk play an important role in the ecology of Point Reyes National Seashore and free-ranging elk should stay on our public parklands.
I am writing to ask you to please support the free-roaming tule elk herds at Outer Point Reyes rather than fencing them in or removing them from "pastoral zones." Tule elk play an important role in the ecology of Point Reyes National Seashore, and their reintroduction is a success story for restoring native species to their ancestral homes, consistent with the mission of the National Park Service.
[Your comment will be added here]
Ranchers who enjoy below-market grazing leases on our public lands in the park should not dictate wildlife removal or exclusion policies, and with some planning cattle operations can be managed to avoid conflicts with tule elk. The low grazing fees paid by these ranchers more than compensate them for any wildlife impacts.
The National Park Service is required to protect, restore and preserve the natural resources at Point Reyes National Seashore. Thus the agency must ensure that cattle ranching leases there come with enforceable measures to protect water quality and endangered species habitats and do not remove or displace native tule elk.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
