Conversely, independent research has found significant levels of water and soil pollution, largely by fecal matter - both bovine and human. Generational family ranchers blame their parents’ past mistakes for current ranch mismanagement, and say they are doing the best they can with the resources they are given. The ranchers’ arguments are largely rooted in their history, in an apparent example of path-dependent entrenchment. Įach of these actor groups discusses the same issues, but with conflicting narratives. Elk populations have already been dying out due to drought and lack of access to water and adequate forage, and so the elk’s suffering has led to a significant divide between the NPS’ proposed continual prioritization of ranching at the cost of elk populations, quality forage, local water quality, and Coast Miwok archaeological sites. It has also led to a lawsuit against the NPS for their recent policy proposal which involved culling native Tule elk at Point Reyes. Today, tensions have culminated in a continued disappointment by Coast Miwok representatives with NPS’ management priorities, which have allowed cattle ranching to cause ecological damage to their ancestral land, damaged their ancestral archaeological sites, and denied their attempted return to a governing steward role in the area. But even after a series of relocations within Point Reyes away from dairy ranches, dairy producers began to complain that elk were out-competing their cattle for forage, negatively impacting their economic viability and organic certifications, and causing property damage. Up until the late 18th century, as many as half a million Tule elk also called this region their home, before nearly being hunted to local extinction by 1870, and before reintroduction initiatives restabilized their local population nearly a century later. But European colonization would begin pushing them out of their home in the 19th century to make space for cattle-ranching initiatives that would be introduced in the mid-1800s. Historically, the Point Reyes peninsula was the homeland of the Indigenous Coast Miwok people. But since the PRNS’ establishment, conflicting management visions of land use have been revealed. Agriculture has remained an essential part of PRNS’ development and economy since its establishment. Authorized in 1962 and officially established in 1972, PRNS was originally designed primarily for public recreation, but federal legislation has allowed for commercial ranching within the seashore. Situated in Marin County, California, Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) is a coastal nature reserve maintained by the US National Park Service (NPS).
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