Opinion

Cattle grazing on Point Reyes public lands is incompatible with wildlife

Private lands where cattle can graze abound in the Bay Area, while public lands are in short supply. Private lands where cattle can graze abound in the Bay Area, while public lands are in short supply. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle 2017 Buy photo Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle 2017 Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Cattle grazing on Point Reyes public lands is incompatible with wildlife 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

During a week of field visits to Point Reyes National Seashore, my ecologist’s eyes were struck by the contrast between degraded cattle pastures and the remnants of wild coastal grassland. It underscores a key point: Don’t confuse “organic” with “environmentally sustainable.” Livestock grazing on Point Reyes is a continually unfolding environmental train wreck. Organic ranching is just ranching with all the environmental damage but no chemical additives.

For example, native bunchgrasses growing in the livestock-free elk preserve have deep, abundant root systems that sequester large amounts of soil carbon. Meanwhile, dairy and beef cattle operations have converted their fenced paddocks to non-native annual grasses that have shallow roots sequestering little carbon. Thus, in addition to the potent greenhouse-gas emissions from the cattle’s digestive tracts (methane), ranching impairs carbon sequestration in the soil.

But that’s not the worst of the environmental problems.

The National Park Service permits ranchers to plow up the land and plant invasive weeds — wild mustard and white charlock native to Europe — to feed to cattle in open-air feedlot operations on National Seashore grounds. These fields are mowed in the spring, killing ground-nesting birds and their chicks. The weeds escape into surrounding grasslands, even spreading into the elk preserve on Tomales Point.

Cattle also conflict with the tule elk, the native grazers on Point Reyes. Successfully reintroduced to the National Seashore after recovering from the brink of extinction, the largest elk population is confined by an 8-foot-high fence to just 2,400 acres of Tomales Point. It’s basically a prison camp for native wildlife, lacking adequate water during periods of drought, on soils deficient in key minerals that elk need. Between 2012 and 2014, Point Reyes National Seashore lost 250 tule elk in die-offs as a result of this unnatural confinement.

Tule elk have also become established near Limantour and Drakes beaches. But these animals face harassment by ranchers, and become entangled in tall fences. Ranchers on these public lands have even demanded that tule elk be removed from parts of the National Seashore, elevating their own interests above those of the wildlife-loving public.

The economic interests of the ranchers were addressed years ago.

The National Park Service bought all the ranches in Point Reyes 40 years ago, paying a pretty penny — $57.7 million in 1960s dollars (equivalent to $313 million today). Point Reyes ranchers were allowed to stay on the now-public land for up to 25 years after the sale.

It’s long past time for ranchers whose 25-year “life estates” are expired to keep their end of the bargain. Private lands where dairy and beef cattle can graze abound in the Bay Area. On the other hand, public lands like Point Reyes National Seashore are in short supply, and with an ever-growing population of outdoor-oriented people nearby, it makes no sense to commit public recreation lands to private agricultural operations.

Ranch operations should move out of homes owned by the Park Service, and move their livestock off public lands that by law must be managed to protect and preserve, for the use and enjoyment of the people.

Even with its high density of native wildlife, the elk preserve at Tomales Point showcases the recovery of degraded ranchlands once the cows are gone, and their transformation into healthy native plant communities. The Park Service should heed public calls to focus on wildlife and recreation values, and embrace the opportunity of its new General Management Plan to restore Point Reyes ranchlands to native wildlife, healthy coastal grasslands, and public recreation, benefit and inspiration.