A Review of Public Lands Ranching Managed by Point Reyes National Seashore

# of acres comprising Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS): 71,055.41 acres [i]
% of parkland leased to private cattle ranching managed by PRNS: 33.2% [ii]
% of rangelands managed by PRNS found by University of California and the National Park Service (NPS) to be overgrazed between 2012-2015: 36% [iii]
# of PRNS ranchers who testified to Congress in 1961 opposing the creation of PRNS: 12[iv]
# of PRNS ranchers who ultimately sold their land to the NPS: 27 [v]
# of dollars PRNS ranchers were paid for their land (1962-1972): $57,000,000 [vi]
# of dollars PRNS ranchers were paid for their land in today’s dollars: $382,000,000* [xxxii]
# of years ranchers who sold their land to the park were permitted to stay in the park: 25 years or Life Estate [vii]
# of years ranching has continued since the Seashore was established in 1962: 56 years
# of ranchers operating in PRNS today: ≈35 [viii]
Average grazing fee ranchers pay the NPS per head of cattle at PRNS: $7-$9/AUM [ix]
Average grazing fees Marin ranchers outside the park pay per head of cattle: $15-$20/AUM [x]
% of Marin County milk production from PRNS cows: 22% [xi]
Gross value of dairy production in Point Reyes in 2017: $7,513,600 [xii]
Property taxes currently paid by ranchers at PRNS: $0
# of dollars County of Marin to pay the legal fees of ranchers’ managed by PRNS in 2017: $250,000
# of park acres leased to ranchers at PRNS and GGNRA: >27,178 [xiii]
# of park acres of the Tule elk enclosure at PRNS: 2,600 [xiv]
# of cattle living in the US in 2017: 94,400,000 [xv]
# of cattle living in California in 2017: 5,250,000 [xvi]
# of Tule elk living in California in 1880: 500,000 [xvii]
# of Tule elk living in California 2018: ≈ 4000 [xviii]
# of national parks where Tule elk live in 2018: 1
# of domestic cattle managed by PRNS: 5,146 [xix]
# of Tule elk in national seashore: ≈660 [xix-i]
Average rainfall at Point Reyes National Seashore between 1996-2005: 44.55 inches [xx]
Average rainfall at Point Reyes National Seashore between 2006-2015: 34.07 inches [xxi]
# of confined elk in PRNS in 2012, prior to the record drought: 540 [xxii]
# of surviving confined elk in PRNS in 2014, following record drought: 286 [xxiii]
# of domestic cattle in PRNS known to have succumbed to the drought : 0
# of pounds of manure produced annually by dairy ranches managed by PRNS: 86,227,600 lbs. [xxiv]
# of pounds of manure produced annually by beef ranches managed by PRNS: 47,306,300 lbs. [xxv]
# of pounds of manure produced annually by all ranches in managed by PRNS: 133,533,900 lbs. [xxvi]
# of metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from PRNS in 2010: 20,239 MTCO2E [xxvii]
% of greenhouse gas emissions from cattle at PRNS in 2010: 62% [xxviii]
# of visitors to Point Reyes National Seashore in 1966: 411,300 visitors [xxix]
# of visitors to Point Reyes National Seashore in 2017: 2,456,669 visitors [xxx]
Amount of economic value attributed to tourism at PRNS in 2017: $132,388,900 [xxxi]
% of annual visitor spending by non-local visitors in 2017: 88.6% [xxxii]
# of years since PRNS updated its General Management Plan: 38 years
# of Environmental Impact Statements done on ranching since PRNS was established: 0

[i] https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/management/statistics.htm
[ii] National Park Service. (2001). Biological Assessment on the Renewal of Livestock Grazing Permits in Point Reyes National Seashore and the North District of Golden Gate National Recreation Area Marin County, California. Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes, California.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. (1961). Hearings before the Subcommittee on National Parks, first session, on, H.R. 2775 and H.R. 3244, bills to establish the Point Reyes National Seashore in the State of California, and for other purposes, House of representatives, Eighty-seventh Congress. 1.
[v] Livingston, D. (1993). Ranching on the Point Reyes Peninsula: A History of the Dairy and Beef Ranches Within Point Reyes National Seashore, 1834-1992. Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes, California.
[vi] Ibid.
[vii] Sadin, P. (2007). Managing a Land in Motion: An Administrative History of Point Reyes National Seashore. Historical Research Associates, Inc., Seattle, Washington.
[viii] http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/7654034-181/future-of-point-reyes-cattle
[ix] https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/management/upload/planning_ag_report_response_090724.pdf
[x] Ibid.
[xi] Ibid.
[xii] Ibid.
[xiii] Ibid.
[xiv] National Park Service. (1998). Tule Elk Management Plan and Environmental Assessment, 1998. Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes, California.
[xv] http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/Catt/Catt-01-31-2018.pdf
[xvi] www.beefusa.org/beefindustrystatistics.aspx
[xvii] https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Elk/Tule-Elk
[xviii] http://www.ptreyes.org/activities/tule-elk
[xix] Ibid.
[xix-i] https://www.nps.gov/articles/winter-tule-elk-census-completed-at-point-reyes.htm
https://www.nps.gov/pore/getinvolved/upload/planning_gmp_amendment_eis_newsletter_tule_elk_current_status_181113.pdf

[xx] Ibid.
[xxi] Ibid.
[xxii] https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/us/roaming-elk-at-point-reyes-bedevil-ranchers-in-california.html
[xxiii] Ibid.
[xxiv] https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/null/?cid=nrcs143_014211
[xxv] Ibid.
[xxvi] Ibid.
[xxvii] National Park Service. (2010). CLIMATEFriendly PARKS, Point Reyes National Seashore Action Plan. Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes, California. 
[xxviii] Ibid.
[xxix] Ibid.
[xxx] Ibid.
[xxxi] National Park Service. (2018). 2017 National Park Visitor Spending Effects Economic Contributions to Local Communities, States, and the Nation. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.
[xxxii] Ibid.
[xxxiii] https://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.htm
* 1972 dollars to 2018 dollars

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“E

xcept for property which the Secretary specifically determines is needed for interpretive or resources management purposes of the seashore, the owner of improved property or of agricultural property on the date of its acquisition by the Secretary under sections 459c to 459c-7 of this title may, as a condition of such acquisition, retain for himself and his or her heirs and assigns a right of use and occupancy for a definite term of not more than twenty-five years, or, in lieu thereof, for a term ending at the death of the owner or the death of his or her spouse, whichever is later.

Enabling Legislation, Point Reyes National Seashore,
16 U.S. Code § 459c, September 16, 1962