What's New: Current Projects: Point Reyes National Seashore Wilderness Threatened

Protect the Phillip Burton Wilderness, Point Reyes, CA, from Commercial Use

When the Philip Burton Wilderness was created on the beautiful rugged coastline of Point Reyes California 1972, an exception was made to allow an operating oyster company to finish out its lease of the Drakes Estero area until the year 2012. At that time this portion of the seashore would join the surrounding designated Wilderness. The current owner of this oyster operation purchased the lease in 2005, fully aware of the impending expiration date. Since then, the commercial operator has been lobbying to overturn this wilderness designation. It they are successful this would set a terrible precedent for wilderness areas around the country. We must tell Congress to uphold this wilderness designation.

Drakes Estero contains 7% of California's eelgrass beds. The Estero is a key resource for many animals, including Dungeness crab, lingcod, rockfish, English sole, steelhead, waterbirds, and seals. Many of the approximately 60 fish species that use the Estero depend on its plankton for food and on its eelgrass for habitat. It is a seasonal home for threatened bird populations, including thousands of federally listed brown pelicans, and black brant geese, an Audubon watch-list species.

The harbor-seal population in Drakes Estero is one of the largest concentrations in California. At one time it would reach nearly 2,000 seals during the breeding season. The colony was growing significantly from the mid-1990s until a few years ago, largely because the level of oyster operations was being reduced. The National Park Service has documented negative impacts to eelgrass and harbor seals from the oyster operation.

Defense of Place is part of a coalition of more than 30 environmental groups who support continued wilderness designation for Drakes Estero. For more information visit the Save Drakes Bay Coalition website.

TAKE ACTION!!!! Follow this link to send a letter in support of full wilderness protection of all of Drakes Estero to Senators Boxer, Feinstein and Representative Woolsey of California.

Links

San Francisco Chapter of the Sierra Club "Attack on wilderness in the Bay Area"

The Coalition submitted the following letter to members of Congress on January 10, 2009:

Dear Senators and Members of Congress:

We are aware of an effort taking place to allow a private oyster grower to continue to commercially operate in the Point Reyes National Seashore after its Reservation of Use and Occupancy (ROU) expires in 2012. The area in which it operates, Drakes Estero, is part of the Philip Burton Wilderness, and has been scheduled since 1972 to revert to wilderness status after the ROU expires. Drakes Bay Oyster Company, the current owner, was well aware of this provision when it purchased the ROU in 2005. Despite this, the oyster company has persisted since then in its attempt to gain political support to overturn Drakes Estero's wilderness designation for its own benefit.

The National Park Service and the Department of Interior solicitor have stated the existing law would require the oyster operator to leave the Estero when his ROU ends. It would be a tremendous insult to the memory of Congressman Philip Burton to undermine the Point Reyes Wilderness Act by allowing this commercial operation in the Point Reyes National Seashore to continue. Congress has never allowed commercial interests to roll back wilderness protection in a unit of the National Park System before. This would be a terrible precedent.

Even more disturbing would be an effort to make this change through the appropriations process. A rider to an Appropriations bill, or to a Continuing Resolution, to extend commercial interests in the National Park System is also completely unprecedented.

Surely this is not the change towards open government the voters have recently so strongly endorsed.

However, if a member of Congress wishes to pursue this unfortunate policy, it should be done through the usual process of hearings in the authorizing committees, with a full chance for the public to participate. We would promise to participate, and to vigorously oppose any such commercial intrusion into our National Park System wilderness areas.

We would also encourage dialogue with our organizations to reach an appropriate resolution to this issue. Thank you for taking our views into account in this important matter.

Sincerely,

___

Frederick Smith

Executive Director

Environmental Action Committee of West Marin

Point Reyes Station, CA

(Defense of Place is joined by 30 other environmental groups in signing this letter to members of Congress)

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