Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
announced Thursday the Drakes Bay Oyster Co.'s operating permit will expire at
Point Reyes National Seashore on Friday, returning Drakes Estero to wilderness.
"I've taken this matter very
seriously," Salazar said in a written statement. "We've undertaken a
robust public process to review the matter from all sides, and I have
personally visited the park to meet with the company and members of the
community.
"I believe it is the right
decision for Point Reyes National Seashore and for future generations who will
enjoy this treasured landscape."
Drakes Bay Oyster Co. Kevin Lunny
received a call from Salazar at 9:40 a.m. informing him of the decision.
"This is beyond
imaginable," Lunny said. "We felt confident the secretary would make
a different decision."
Last week, Salazar came to tour
the operation and to speak to Lunny and his supporters, as well as to meet with
opponents of the oyster company.
Lunny said he is not sure what
will happen to the company's 30 employees and the on-site housing where about
half of them live.
Also uncertain is the fate of
some 8 million to 10 million oysters that are currently in the water, growing
in various stages of development.
The oysters would have a market
value of about 50 cents each, but the last of them will not be ready to harvest
for another two years, Lunny said.
"This is a devastating blow,
but we would like the people of Marin County to know we appreciate the
overwhelming support that we've felt," he said.
The oyster company — which made
about $1.5 million annually — will have to remove its personal property from
the lands and waters within 90 days. Salazar has asked the National Park
Service to help the employees who are affected by the decision, including
assisting with relocation, employment opportunities and training. Drakes Estero
has been in commercial oyster production for nearly 100 years.
The oyster farm has a lease
allowing it to grow and harvest oysters in Drakes Estero in the Point Reyes
National Seashore, a national park. But a 40-year lease that began in 1972
expires Friday. Now the estero will become the only marine wilderness area on
the West Coast.
Park officials have maintained they
signed a 40-year lease with the Johnson's Oyster Co. in 1972 with the
understanding that the 2,200-acre estero would become a wilderness when it
expired this year.
But that was contested by Lunny,
who took over the lease in 2004, saying there is a provision to extend it. The
oyster farm has outspoken supporters, including Marin Supervisor Steve Kinsey
and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who was critical of the decision.
"I am extremely disappointed
that Secretary Salazar chose not to renew the operating permit for the Drakes
Bay Oyster Company," Feinstein said. "The National Park Service's
review process has been flawed from the beginning with false and misleading
science, which was also used in the environmental impact statement."
The park service has voiced concern
about the oyster operation's impact on eelgrass, fish, harbor seals and other
wildlife and produced data indicating it was causing environmental damage. But
Lunny supporters said the park service manipulated facts and figures to portray
the oyster operation in a poor light.
Sierra Club Executive Director
Michael Brune lauded the decision.
"We're thrilled that after
three decades this amazing piece of Point Reyes National Seashore will finally
receive the protections it deserves," he said. "Once the oyster
factory operations are removed, as originally promised ... this estuary will
quickly regain its wilderness characteristics and become a safe haven for
marine mammals, birds and other sea life."
The decision also ensures that,
in keeping with the historic use of the land, existing sustainable ranching
operations within the national park will continue, Salazar said.
He directed the National Park
Service to pursue extending the terms of agriculture permits from 10 years to
20 years to provide greater certainty and clarity for the ranches operating
within the national park's pastoral zone and to support the continued presence
of sustainable ranching and dairy operations.
There has been concern that if
the oyster operation was removed, the ranches would be next.
During his visit Salazar drew
distinction between the oyster operation and ranches inside the park, calling
them "separate issues."
The oyster issue divided West
Marin, which was acknowledged by Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey in her statement on
the decision.
"The dispute over Drakes Bay
Oyster Co. has been a divisive one in our community for many years. On both
sides of this issue, there are passionate people of great conviction," the
Petaluma Democrat said. " All of them care deeply about the estero, about
local agriculture, about environmental protection and about the future of our
community. It took a cabinet-level decision, authorized by an act of Congress,
to resolve this matter." She added: "Now that this long process has
run its course, it is my hope that we can put the contentiousness behind us and
move forward as a united community."
Source: Marin Independent Journal Posted:
11/29/2012 05:15:00 PM PST By Mark Prado IJ reporter Will Jason contributed
to this report.Contact Mark
Prado via email at mprado@marinij.com
Comments:
If you internet search Comprehensive Land Use Plans, especially for
counties that contain federal land, you will see what is currently productive,
privately owned farmland will be zoned “Corridor”. This is a “wildlife” buffer. The map on page
56 of the Habersham County Georgia Comprehensive Land Use Plan 2029 is the best
example. If you wonder how all these
farmers could lose their farms in 20 years, look up Obama’s “rural initiative”
and “regional” governance. The EPA will
make food production unsustainable. The
Spotted Owl panic ended all timber production in the Northwest decades ago. The
result was more forest fires. Several
years ago, farmers in San Joaquin Valley CA had their water turned off for the
“snail darter” a bait fish. After that
we read about EPA raids on dairy farms where they seized and destroyed their
cheese production. Georgia free-range
chicken farmers are battling State Agricultural regulations that threaten to
close down these 100 farms.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party
Leader
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