As a tragedy continues at Point Reyes National Seashore in Northern California, the National Park Service (NPS) is accepting public comments on its planning process related to “wildlife, resource, and wilderness management issues” at Tomales Point in the Phillip Burton Wilderness. At issue is the fate of native Tule elk, a rare subspecies nearly extinct across California and rapidly and needlessly dying at the Seashore due to NPS mismanagement. The NPS General Management Plan for Point Reyes keeps elk trapped behind a fence, expands commercial agricultural use, and extends cattle ranch leases for up to 20 years.

Instead of protecting the Wilderness and elk that live there, the NPS has the largest elk herd at the National Seashore fenced into an enclosure at Tomales Point. Not only is there not enough forage for the confined elk, but ongoing drought has caused scant freshwater to dry up, leaving the elk dying of hunger and thirst, as documented by visitor photographs of dead and emaciated elk.

The NPS is confining the elk to prevent them from competing for forage and water with the nearly 6,000 cattle that continue to graze at the National Seashore, decades after the government paid fair market value to acquire private ranches and end livestock grazing there. When Point Reyes National Seashore was established in 1962, permitted ranchers were allowed to continue operations for 25 years. In a move that prioritized cattle ranching over the needs of wildlife, some of the ranchers who refused to move after the 25-year time period were granted new leases by the NPS. So, some 28,000 acres of public land at the National Seashore continue to be grazed despite the original agreement to end this commercial use.

Elk, cut off from needed food and water, are dying at alarming numbers. The elk population behind the fence dropped from 540 to 286 in 2015, then 221 more elk died by 2020, and another 25 percent died more recently.

Please speak up for Tule Elk and the Phillip Burton Wilderness by Monday, May 2. Comments must be submitted on the NPS site:

https://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?documentID=119614

Please use your own words but consider the following talking points:

• The Point Reyes National Seashore belongs to all Americans, not just to ranchers who profit from its use. The NPS must protect the Seashore and its wildlife.
• Fences have no place in Wilderness. The NPS needs to end the tragic, ongoing deaths of rare Tule elk at Point Tomales in the Phillip Burton Wilderness by taking down the fence so elk can access food and water.
• The NPS needs to prioritize the needs of native wildlife by putting an end to commercial ranching at Point Reyes like it was supposed to do decades ago.

Help us protect Tule elk and the Phillip Burton Wilderness. All first-time donations matched by a generous member in Alaska.

Photo: Harry via Flickr 

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