Your Voice Counts at CA Coastal Commission Hearing on Point Reyes Seashore’s Future

Speak powerfully from the convenience of your home on a special, public Zoom meeting of the California Coastal Commission. Tell the Commission in your own words that you oppose the proposed new General Management Plan (GMP) for Point Reyes National Seashore — which will harm the Tule elk and all wildlife at Point Reyes. 

The Commission is partly a numbers game. If hundreds of citizens weigh in against the National Park Service’s plan to expand ranching at Point Reyes, thus harming wild animals, we will surprise the commissioners, and possibly alter their decision to be pro-wildlife. Your voice (and Zoom video, if you like) can help win a favorable outcome for Point Reyes’ precious, rare Tule elk who are being harmed by brutal, anti-animal, anti-wildlife park policies. Private-profit ranching is being prioritized in this national park unit, where, by law, “natural resources,” including wild animals, are supposed to have the highest priority.

But note, since this is the Coastal Commission, its focus is on waterways and the Pacific Ocean, not Tule elk, per se. So, please keep your comments focused on the Commission’s  focus, which is waterways, aquatic life, marine life (seals, sea lions, elephant seals, whales), and water recreation.

What: California Coastal Commission Special Meeting regarding Point Reyes National Seashore

When: Thursday, April 22, 9 a.m. Pacific Time

Where: Submit this speaker request form to receive the Zoom meeting login details 

Note About Registration Deadline: Requests to speak at the meeting must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 20, to share visuals (via PowerPoint up to 40 MB in size). Speaker requests will not be accepted after 8:30 a.m. on the day of the meeting, Thursday, April 22. Request to speak during Agenda item #3.

Agenda Item #3: Consistency Determination by National Park Service for the 2020 General Management Plan Amendment for Point Reyes National Seashore and the north district of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, including elk and ranch management actions, Marin County.

Guidelines to speak/participate:

1) Short and sweet is best: 1-2 minutes is all you’ll have to share. Passionate is fine, but be civil.

2) Keep comments relevant to the coast and waterways. We all love the Tule elk, and want them protected, but the Coastal Commission’s focus is only on coastal waterways, so speak to that.

3) Suggested approach, in either order, to mix it up for the Commission: 

    A] WHAT: state your position (opposing the proposed expansion of ranching);  

    B] WHY: a personal anecdote illustrating, bringing to life, your “WHAT” 

Example: “I am concerned about all the cows in the park and the effect all their manure has on the water quality when winter rains wash it into the park’s streams and lagoons.  I love to take my kids to Kehoe Lagoon and Kehoe Beach and I’m worried that recent independent water tests showed that these public beaches can be contaminated by all the cows.”

3) Say what you please, or personalize one of the water-related topics below.. Overall, a variety of comments, and making these issues personal is effective.

• Cows treading in and out of stream banks degrade stream beds and harm rare fish species.
• The fecal matter from cattle pollutes streams, harming threatened Coho salmon and steelhead trout.
• All wildlife is potentially harmed by drinking from cattle-polluted waterways
• You worry about paddling in Drakes Estero or Abbotts Lagoon and accidentally ingesting some fecal bacteria in the water from cow feces.
• You’re upset that sea elephants and sea lions and even migrating whales are being exposed to run-off pollution in what is supposed to be a protected marine sanctuary.
• You’re angry that only 25 feet of soil stands between numerous poop ponds, and pooping, grazing cattle adjacent to Drakes Estero in that designated Phillip Burton National Wilderness area. Cows should be removed from this area and all Point Reyes Seashore, not increased.
• You don’t want all the ranches’ heavy farm machinery and trucks using the Park’s roadways — their tire rubber, emissions, brake linings, oils and other fluids wash into and pollute roadside streams and creeks.

4) You may also submit a short PowerPoint presentation by completing this speaker request form before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 20!

Thank you for caring. We hope to see you there!