BREAKING: House Republicans Launch Investigation Into Point Reyes Ranch Closures
The House Committee on Natural Resources will be investigating The Nature Conservancy and other environmental groups involved in 12 ranchers' exit from Point Reyes National Seashore.
On Thursday, House Republicans announced a major investigation into the Point Reyes National Seashore ranch closures that sparked nationwide outrage and concern.
“Farmers and ranchers provide what people need,” Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a Republican congressman from rural California and one of the seven reps who signed onto the investigation, told UNWON. “The people of Marin and Sonoma have great love and respect for how their neighbors do so in providing for them. They know these farmers and ranchers are the best stewards of that neighboring land. These families have operated for many generations in the area and in good faith when Parks first started muscling them in the early 60s.”
As previously reported, in 2022 three environmental groups sued the National Park Service over the legacy presence of ranching families on Point Reyes. A group of 12 ranchers countersued to defend their historic leases. At the last minute, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) stepped in to broker a deal between the parties. Earlier this year, during the last days of the Biden administration, parties announced a deal had been reached: The Nature Conservancy would buy out the 12 ranching families in an undisclosed settlement, and take over their leases. The ranchers, who agreed to a gag order as part of the deal, were given 15 months to leave.
In a letter to The Nature Conservancy, the House Committee on Natural Resources—a key panel that handles issues related to public land—demanded parties turn over all relevant communications. This includes the environmental groups involved in pushing ranchers off Point Reyes; Resource Renewal Institute, Western Watersheds, and Center for Biological Diversity. All must comply by April 24.
“The committee is concerned not only with the lack of transparency surrounding the settlement but also with the environmental and legal consequences the settlement may impose,” writes Rep. Bruce Westerman, chairman of the committee.
“First positive thing that has happened in years to hold these groups accountable,” says Albert Straus, a local dairy farmer and founder of Straus Family Creamery who has been a vocal supporter of the ranchers on Point Reyes.
Questions about The Nature Conservancy
The letter also implies the Point Reyes deal may not be final.
“Pursuant to (Point Reyes National Seashore’s) enabling legislation, the Secretary of the Interior retains the right to lease federal lands at PRNS for agricultural use, irrespective of the environmental groups’ lawsuit outcome. These environmental groups have a well-documented history of targeting ranching families at PRNS. Nevertheless, TNC chose to intervene and insert itself into ongoing confidential mediation.”
Westerman also points out a potential conflict of interest. The Nature Conservancy hosted high-end fundraises in the Bay Area to raise money for buyouts before negotiations were finalized.
“Given that TNC is a settlement party and specifically fundraised to buy out existing agricultural operations at PRNS, the Committee is gravely concerned about TNC’s conflicts of interest related to the future management of PRNS.”
Shelina Moreda, one of the founders of local ag advocacy group Communities for Food & Family Farms, says farmers in Marin and Sonoma counties have been the targets of frequent harassment by environmental and advocacy rights groups. She
“These groups should not be allowed to, in my opinion, extort farmers as they are doing across the USA—it’s a flat out attack on our food system,” she says. “They have been harassing farmers, slapping on Sue & Settle lawsuits, and pushing for years to do away with our small farms in the name of environmentalism, even though they do not make goals of improving the environment—it is a facade to win the favor of the public. They do not work with farmers to improve the environment, they push farmers and farmworkers out. Their goals are to shut down small farms.”
Bombshell emails from DOI suggest government secretly wanted ranchers out
The Park Service has presented itself as an impartial party in the future of the Point Reyes leases. I’ve written that many people close to the situation—or those with similar experiences with the Park Service—doubt that narrative.
“It’s environmental terrorism,” says Andrew Giacomini, a local attorney who filed a lawsuit alleging that the National Park Service conspired to pay off the ranchers and turn their leases over to an environmental group. “I believe there is a total conspiracy going on with environmental groups and the National Park Service to end ranching on national parks, and this is their playbook.”
Adding credence to this theory: in response to his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, writer Chris Bray received a number of private emails from the National Park Service demonstrating a celebratory attitude when the settlement was announced.
In one, Deputy Solicitor for Parks and Wildlife Sarah Krakoff called the removal of ranchers “a big win for NPS, PORE, and conservation.”
“Nice one to go out on y’all!!!” she wrote on January 9, just days before President Trump’s inauguration. Several sources told me they believe the settlement was rushed to get in under the wire before the end of the Biden presidency.
In a response, National Park Service Director Charles Sams said, “Nicely done!”
In another, Barbara Goodyear, a former lawyer for DOI and a management consultant for the Park Service during the Point Reyes lawsuit, appeared to celebrate the end of a “long road.”
Local ag leaders say the issue should be bipartisan
Moreda says she believes local food and farming should be a bipartisan issue. In November, 85% of Sonoma County voted “no” on Measure J—a bill that would have banned some farming operations. She says this demonstrates that preserving local food supplies crosses party lines.
“Food is nonpartisan,” she says. “Local food is something most everyone believes in. Anyone trying to make it partisan is not seeing the whole story and is inappropriately spinning it for their own personal reasons. I will work with all sides to make sure that I always push for what is fair. Communities for Food & Family Farms was founded on uniting the community and we have been behind pushing this forward because we believe the community was not heard on this.”
Moreda also believes that politicians and pundits who describe the Point Reyes ranch closures as voluntary are misleading the public.
“Silencing all of the farmers with a gag order and then saying ‘just listen to the farmers’ is cruel mind games,” she says. “Any human can imagine this scenario—your great-grandfather’s home is about to be taken out from under you—the place your parents were raised and you played with your first dog in the yard—would you really just want it to be taken, and stand down? Or would you only stand down if you were forced to with an NDA?”
Questions remain for last ranchers on Point Reyes
Congressman Jared Huffman (D-California) is both the representative for the area and the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, but he told Marin Independent Journal he was not given notice before the letter was sent.
“If the Park Service, and this is the Trump administration’s Park Service, wanted to revoke this or blow it all up, they could,” Huffman told the paper.
But others aren’t so sure. One rancher from the point, who asked to be anonymous, said she has questions has to how this investigation will help the ranchers who already signed the agreement.
“Can they change their minds and stay what is going to be done about the elk? Is the House going to look at the lease agreement that would bankrupt the ranchers and change it? I mean there is a ton of questions that still make it sound like the ranchers still don’t have a choice in leaving.”
Good work Keely!
Important work Keely. Look forward to further articles.