Point Reyes National Seashore: Major Changes in Ranching and Conservation
A discussion about contrasting aspirations for West Marin and the Pt. Reyes National Seashore, and the recent settlement of legal claims to end most ranching
Speakers:
Jim Coda – Nature Photographer, Attorney (retired)
Jack Gescheidt – Environmental Activist, TreeSpirit Project Founder
John Hart – Author
Erik Molvar – Executive Director, Western Watersheds Project
Date: Thursday, March 6, 2025
Time: Program 1:00 – 2:30pm (NOTE: Check-in 12:30-1:00pm)
Where: Dominican University Creekside Room, 100 Magnolia Avenue, San Rafael
Cost: $18/person to cover venue and light refreshments cost
PLEASE NOTE THE TIME CHANGE: This program will take place in the early afternoon rather than the later afternoon of our previous programs at Dominican
See map for directions and parking
[A description of the program and speaker(s) can be viewed below.]
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Program Description
By now, you’ve surely seen headlines about the historic court settlement that will end most ranching operations in Pt. Reyes. That historic development – and the road that led there – will be the topic of our March program.
BACKGROUND: Ranching in West Marin has existed for over 150 years. In 1962, Congress created Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS): 71,000 acres between Stinson Beach and Bodega Bay that are home to historic sites, trails, a lighthouse, and ocean panoramas. Much of the intended park area was occupied by historic ranches, but the federal act indicated a different future for this iconic peninsula. To acquire those ranches, the National Park Service (NPS) purchased ranchers’ property while giving them a lease-back of up to 25 years, thereby allowing them to continue ranching for a finite period.
The duration of that period has been in dispute ever since. When the original leases ended in the 1980s, NPS renewed them rather than terminate ranching operations and taking possession of these lands. Decades later, NPS gave ranchers lease renewals again, then again, creating a pattern of inaction that did not sit well with some.
Throughout these years, many sought to eliminate ranching in PRNS due to its adverse environmental impacts, believing that the entire park must be managed to ensure resource protection. Also, ranches are the basis for barrier fencing that prevents the free roaming of tule elk, a species that has faced deadly drought and starvation conditions due to their restricted terrain. Conversely, ranchers argue that Congress intended that these lands be managed forever as private ranches, not public parkland; they assert the ranches provide jobs, food, and a vibrant community and that ending ranching would damage the local economy and character of Pt. Reyes.
Ultimately, these issues led to litigation filed by 3 environmental groups in 2022, resolution of which has now been reached: 12 of the 14 ranches within the Park – covering ~16,000 acres in PRNS – will close by mid-2026. Two ranches (~2,000 acres) will continue in operation. Our panel will provide an insider’s view of how this controversy developed, why it’s been so difficult to resolve, and what the future portends. We hope you’ll join us for this informative program.
As usual, the event will include a question-and-answer period. Attendees should expect an informative and lively discussion.
Speakers
Jim Coda began his legal career as an attorney in the Department of the Interior. He was involved in the reintroduction of tule elk to Point Reyes National Seashore in 1978 and in the litigation filed by a rancher challenging the reintroduction. He spent most of his legal career as an Assistant U. S. Attorney in the Northern District of California where he handled cases primarily involving challenges to the way federal agencies managed their lands and resources. He had several cases involving NPS, including one where the Point Reyes Superintendent was sued for cancelling a ranching lease.
Jack Gescheidt is a full-time environmental activist, advocate and artist since founding his TreeSpirit Project in 2004. “TreeSpirit” raises awareness about the crucial role of trees and forests in our lives, both ecologically and emotionally. Since 2020, he has been an activist, on the ground at Point Reyes National Seashore, leading dozens of demonstrations and actions drawing attention to the ecological damage that beef and dairy ranches do both inside Point Reyes — and everywhere. His love for the natural world and its wild animals is so strong he refuses to remain silent about the biggest inconvenient truth of the day: that the single greatest contributor to species extinction and global heating is raising cows for human consumption. This is something we can all remedy every day, by not eating beef and dairy products. TreeSpiritProject.com
John Hart, journalist and author, is the author of sixteen books and several hundred other published works. He has won the James D. Phelan Award, the Commonwealth Club Medal in Californiana, and the David R. Brower Award for Service in the Field of Conservation (American Alpine Club). He began his career in 1970 with articles for the Pacific Sun at a moment of historic policy change, reporting on local land use planning, farmland preservation, parks, wilderness, and water issues, themes that have run through his work ever since. His locally relevant titles include San Francisco’s Wilderness Next Door, Farming on the Edge: Saving Family Farms in Marin County, California, and An Island in Time: 50 Years as Point Reyes National Seashore.
Erik Molvar is a wildlife biologist and Executive Director of Western Watersheds Project. He has scientific research published on moose behavior and ecology, and also has written 17 guidebooks to national parks and wilderness areas across the American West. His work as a conservation professional spans 25 years, and includes forest defense, wilderness conservation, oil and gas issues, endangered species listing and protection, and livestock grazing reform. Finalizing the 2016 Point Reyes settlement was one of his first tasks at WWP, and he also has been heavily engaged in the General Management Plan, the lawsuit challenging it, and the settlement that has emerged from the lawsuit.