Point Reyes National Seashore

  • As noted on the Seashore’s website the federal process began in 1935, when Conrad Wirth, the Assistant Director of the National Park Service, recommended that 53,000 acres of Point Reyes be purchased "because of the peninsula's exceptional qualities and…accessibility to the concentrated population of Central California."

    Later, in the 1950s, President John F. Kennedy’s announced his conservation agenda that included the creation of two national seashores and the adoption of the Wilderness Bill.

    This work was accomplished thanks to the efforts of the Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, Sierra Club executive director David Brower, Clair Engle, Clem Miller, and author Harold Gilliam, and others. Following the publication of the book, Island in Time, by the Sierra Club and author Harold Gilliam, the Congressional floor debates for the Point Reyes Authorization Act took place and on September 13, 1962, the President signed the Act into law. It took another eight years before the final appropriations of funding to acquire the 53,000 acres, thanks to community advocate, Peter Behr, and his organization, Save Our Seashore, championing the effort.

    An additional 23,370 acres of wilderness lands and 8,003 acres of potential wilderness were established as the Point Reyes Wilderness on October 18, 1976. Wilderness areas ensure, “without impairment of its natural values, in a manner which provides for such recreational, educational, historic preservation, interpretation, and scientific research opportunities as are consistent with, based upon, and supportive of the maximum protection, restoration, and preservation of the natural environment within the area.”

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  • The Seashore is a unique coastal habitat sanctuary that includes pristine beaches, estuaries, intertidal, sand dunes, rolling grasslands, and forests. The Seashore is along important migratory routes for marine mammals, birds, and other wildlife. The Seashore’s wildlife webpage notes, “Current inventories document approximately 80 species of mammals, 85 species of fish, 29 species of reptiles and amphibians, and thousands of aquatic and terrestrial invertebrate species. Nearly half the bird species of North America, 490 species, have been spotted here. Over fifty species of animals at Point Reyes are listed by the state or federal government as threatened, rare, or endangered. To help us better protect some of these species, the park uses remote wildlife monitoring cameras to gather information about the presence of species, the numbers of individuals, and their behaviors and habitat selection.”

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  • The Seashore’s diverse habitats support a variety of plant life making it a popular destination for migrating wildlife and plant enthusiasts. The Seashore’s plant webpage notes, “Point Reyes National Seashore is a jewel in the California Floristic Province—one of 25 regions of the world where biological diversity is most concentrated and the threat of loss most severe. Unique geology, soils, and climate conditions make for a highly variable landscape within a relatively small land base. The Seashore encompasses over 70,000 acres of dunes, sandy and rocky beaches, coastal grasslands, Douglas fir and bishop pine forests, wetlands, chaparral, and wilderness lakes. The broad range of plant communities supports over 900 species of vascular plants—pretty amazing! This number represents about 15% of the California flora. Three plants are considered endemic to Point Reyes.”

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  • Before the Europeans came to California, the Coast Miwok people were the inhabitants of what we now call Marin and southern Sonoma Counties. They knew and blended with this bountiful land for thousands of years, developing a rich economy based on gathering, fishing and hunting. Village communities of 75 to several hundred people developed in sheltered places near fresh water and plentiful food. "Kule Loklo" (meaning "Bear Valley") is a recreated village. It stands where no village ever was, but where one might have stood.

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  • The Point Reyes peninsula is remarkably covered with numerous layers of human activity that have left sometimes overt, other times subtle changes on the landscape. Those changes, imposed upon a rugged coastal environment, were filtered through the lens of cultural values, traditions, lifeways, economies, and technologies of people who emigrated from small and great distances over a period of several millennia though current time.

    The National Seashore has identified twelve historic cultural landscapes within its boundaries and the north district of Golden Gate National Recreation Area administered by Point Reyes. Over time, each is being documented, evaluated and, where necessary, rehabilitated, following guidelines of the National Register of Historic Places.

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  • Today, the Seashore hosts more than 2.5 million annual visitors! The Seashore was established to preserve and protect wilderness, natural ecosystems, and cultural resources along the diminishing undeveloped coastline of the western United States.

    The Seashore is a sanctuary for myriad plant and animal species and for the human spirit—for discovery, inspiration, solitude, and recreation—and exists as a reminder of the human connection to the land.

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Nestled along the rugged coastline of California, Point Reyes National Seashore stretches across 71,000 acres of diverse habitat areas that was created following more than 30 years of advocacy on September 13, 1962. The From its iconic Point Reyes Lighthouse perched on the dramatic cliffs, one can witness breathtaking vistas of the Pacific Ocean stretching beyond the horizon. The park also boasts an incredible array of wildlife, including tule elk, seals, and migrating whales. Whether you're hiking the scenic trails, photographing the vibrant wildflowers, or simply enjoying a picnic by the ocean, Point Reyes National Seashore is an enchanting destination that invites visitors to reconnect with nature and indulge in its captivating wonders.


What we do to Protect Point Reyes

From the first organized campaign to oppose the creation of Vision Road to fighting for the designation of Drakes Estero Marine Wilderness, EAC has been a tenacious public advocate to protect the lands, waters, and biodiversity of the Seashore. Public lands need the support of the public who can push for conservation measures, lobby for funding, support science and stewardship, and participate in planning processes. Local organizations are key stakeholders who can partner, share information and resources, and provide important public outreach to ensure transparency and alignment with mission and values of each park unit. Find information on our current campaigns and partnerships below:

General Management Plan Amendment

We are working to ensure if beef and dairy ranching will continue to operate in the Seashore that all operations must have measures in place to holistically protect habitat, wildlife, plants, water quality, recreation, and cultural resources. This includes strong lease conditions, ranch management plans, and monitoring of conditions, like water quality, that are transparent, adaptive, and available to the public.

In spring 2014, the National Park Service (NPS) initiated the Ranch Comprehensive Management Plan (RCMP) for the approximately 28,000 acres of active beef and dairy ranching on NPS lands in Point Reyes and the north district of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The RCMP was in response to a decision made by Secretary Ken Salazar in 2012 requesting the Seashore to pursue long-term ranching and dairy leases.

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Water Quality

As part of our effort to holistically protect natural and cultural resources within the Seashore, we have teamed up with the Seashore and County of Marin to collect water quality samples and report weekly results to our community. This helps ensure public transparency related to potential pollution issues.

In 2020, we restarted the sampling program at Drakes Estero and Drakes Beach—in partnership with the County of Marin and the Point Reyes National Seashore—to ensure recreational water quality samples are being collected to create a long-term dataset so we can advocate to ensure healthy and clean watersheds. This program was initiated during our review of the General Management Plan Amendment when we discovered sampling had ceased in 2013. Learn More.

EAC is participating in the public process with the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board to discuss the Conditional Waiver of Waste Discharge Requirements for Grazing Operations in the North San Francisco Bay Region, and the upcoming renewal and geographic scope expansion. Meetings and comment periods will occur in 2024, and we will provide updates.

 

tomales point Area Plan

We fight for tule elk management that is within the context of managing resources like other natural resources within the Seashore and not for the benefit of commercial lease holders. This means that we do not support elk fences or the killing of animals to manage elk to reduce conflicts with ranching.

On June 9th, the Seashore announced their proposed action for the Tomales Point Area Plan that cites their preference to remove the tule elk fence and enhance opportunities to improve recreational and visitor experiences at the historic Pierce Point Ranch. This announcement is excellent news for the tule elk population that has been behind the elk fence for decades. In 2023, the Seashore released a newsletter for public comment. The environmental assessment (EA) will be available for public review and comment in spring 2024 with a final decision this summer.

EAC Submitted Public Comments in Support of Tomales Point Elk Fence Removal.

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MPA Watch

We collect data on human activities near and within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within the Seashore to understand visitation trends and types of activities to provide important information that informs future management policies along popular beaches in and near the Seashore.

The California MPA Watch program is implemented by different organizations throughout the state. The Marin MPA Watch Volunteer Program is managed by the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin (EAC), and in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences, and Point Reyes National Seashore. The Marin MPA Watch focuses their efforts at Agate County Beach/Duxbury Reef, Corte Madera Marsh, Limantour Beach, Drakes Beach, Drakes Estero, Point Resistance, and the Point Reyes Headlands. Not only do local volunteers learn about their coastal environment and become community scientists and stewards of the area, but they generate large quantities of monitoring data that would not be possible without volunteer support.

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