Point Reyes Tule Elk Update: August 25th 2021

An update on the Point Reyes tule elk situation is overdue so here's the latest information as well as a look back at the last 6 months leading up to the current, dire situation.
Included:
1. Former Point Reyes Tule elk docent shares her views on the situation
2. The last remaining “pond” is death trap
3. A look at the park service's ludicrous stance on rancher troughs VS. elk / mercy troughs
4. Is there a drought or not?

Special thanks for their willing contributions to this video:
Tony Seghal, Laura Chariton, Matthew Polvorosa Kline, Jack Gesheidt, Jocelyn Knight, Skyler Thomas

​YouTube or Instagram available

#water #drought #thirst #dyingofthirst #starving #starvingelk #suffering #elk #tuleelk #pointreyes #pointreyesnationalseashore #california #californiawildlife #marincounty #bayarea #sf #animalrights #animallovers #elk #dairy #wildfires #mercyforanimals #peta #nationalpark #nationalseashore #suffering #wildlife

2020's false hope is 2021's death trap

On July 5th, 6th, and 7th of 2021 I witnessed elk on the hills surrounding Central Pond 2 as well as down next to the "pond".  This so-called water source is nothing but a mud hole and potential death trap as evidenced by the corpses documented in this same spot last September.  

There is nothing there for these elk.  Nothing but false hope, disappointment, and potential death.  Yet they are still there. What does this tell us?

For starters it lets us know that this fantasy world some have concocted in which all the elk magically find their way to a tiny trough miles away (that they don't even know exists) is exactly that; a naive fantasy providing convenient denial.   It is also evidence of the significance of the home ranges of the sub herds, which a prior study shows that each group of elk mostly stick to areas they have apparently designated as "theirs."

Further north in the reserve (continued below)

is "North Pond 2" which has also provided fools a sense of false "health security" for the elk because it didn't go completely bone dry in 2020 (like all the other bodies of water).   That may not be true this year.  On July 7th of 2021 North Pond 2 appears HALF the size that it did in September of 2020.  With record heat waves wrecking the state and no hope of rain for at least 5 months it is likely this stagnant cess pool will also be bone dry.

But before it goes completely dry it too will become a death trap...(continued below)

...it is likely this so-called pond is on its way to being last year's Central Pond 2, the death trap pond.  Why wouldn't it?  The banks are already difficult to walk through and there appears to be signs of struggle where at least one elk had to drag itself away from the water's edge.  Can you imagine?  It's like one of those sick Hollywood horror films where the bad guy offers the victim a chance at escape if only they put themselves in harm's way first.  Water, albeit disgusting water, awaits these elk if they can only manage to trudge through the mud.  Unlike last year, the elk hanging out in the area stayed far from the water's edge.

Let's compare to Central Pond 2 in 2021...(continued below)

Take a moment to observe the details of central Pond 2's status as of July 7th.

Below is video footage showing the proximity of the elk to Central Pond 2 on July 7th.  In the first clip I am down in the pond, in the second I am up on the hill. 

For comparison below are images of Central Pond 2 on September 25th, 2020

Now let's look at North Pond 2

Believe it or not the above and below images are the same location not even a year separated.  Which one looks good to drink from?

July 7, 2021.  Location: North Pond 2 (northern end of the elk reserve)
​
One relatively healthy male was amongst several unhealthy males and as the healthy male moved among the rest it provided quite the visual comparison.  The exposed ribs are obvious, but also notice the pronounced hip and shoulder blades.  The rectum is extended, inflamed, and covered in black excrement.  The hip area appears collapsed rather than filled out as in the healthy male. 

“I can think of no worse way to die. It is prolonged agony, where the elk are presumably hungry all of the time.” - Veterinarian Dr. Amy Allen in her testimony in the lawsuit against Point Reyes National Seashore

Watch the video below to see a healthy male with a diseased male. 

Unwary tourists walked past us “happy to see wildlife” even as Mathew P. Kline and I instead observed a very different scene than what the tourists were seeing. ​

Words from the Pacific Sun article that investigated the necropsies of deceased elk in the reserve came to mind as we watched.

“Three of the necropsied elk were found alive, unable to stand or lift their heads; they expired within hours or were euthanized by gunshot. Before he passed, one young male, a “spike,” was “observed laying down, kicking and unable to right itself.” As with the other emaciated elk, the spike’s muscle, fat and bone marrow were severely atrophied; his body was eating itself. He perished foaming at the mouth and nose. His abdomen was swollen with excess fluid, and he suffered from hepatitis and liver abscesses. Worms were devouring the linings of his lungs, trachea and intestines. He died from starvation and maladies tied to mineral deficiencies and eating poisonous plants.”

"His abdomen was swollen with excess fluid, and he suffered from hepatitis and liver abscesses. Worms were devouring the linings of his lungs, trachea and intestines." - Necropsy report

It is hard not to think of the black waters of the disgusting puddle the elk are forced to drink from as I also look at their blackened backsides, proclaiming the presence of disease the elk may very well have gotten from the water. 

#nationalparks #tulelek #starvation #dehydration #poison #disease #elkreserve #pointreyes #pointreyesnationalseashore #deathbydesign #animalabuse #intentionaldeath #pacificsun #inverness #melaniegunn #davepress #craigkenkel

Also watch on Instagram or Facebook

Fact Checking FAQS

After Sunday's demonstration I went to the elk reserve and a few thoughts came to mind as I looked at the water troughs the park service provided. In  particular I thought of things I had just read on their website’s FAQ page.

1 Water Quality Concerns

The park claimed to be concerned about the quality and source of water the activists brought in.  That would be inspiring unless you’re aware of the incredibly disgusting water the park WAS fine with claiming were adequate water sources for the elk.  Talk about potential for infection! The puddles I saw out there screamed “drink me and die”.

2 Wilderness

The park claimed that they made a special effort to place their troughs outside of designated wilderness areas.  I have two responses to that: 
1. The troughs seem to be in about the same spots so I’m curious exactly how designated and non designated wilderness is divided out there.  
2. If this is designated wilderness then it is a testament to the failure of the park service to restore native coastal prairie.  Instead the area was dominated by nonnative plants which can be traced back to ranching.  

3 Working with the public

The park claimed the public didn’t work with them to bring in troughs.  Well, I guess that’s technically correct, but this is because the park was unwilling to bring in water under any conditions.  Any and all proposals and even offers to provide volunteer labor were rejected.  Next thing we knew, the park had brought in water (even while continuing to claim no water was needed).

4 Water access

Lastly, you just have to pretend every animal in the reserve (including but not limited to just the elk) marched like well-trained cattle to the new water troughs at the southern tip of the reserve.
This video shows the third of three troughs. It is the furthest north yet it's just south of Pierce Point Ranch.
Just providing a little perspective for those who are thinking everything is OK now.

#elk #elkwater #Tuleelk #FAQs #facts #pointreyes #water #watertroughs 
#shameofpointreyes #skylerthomas #pointreyesnationalseashore #drought #wildlife

​​

I was asked by people in the crowd for a copy of my speech so I uploaded it here.
​Phots by Derek Clary

It’s hard to believe it was the summer of 2018 that I began documenting issues in Point Reyes National Seashore…four summers ago. 
And it’s hard to believe that those four years have been filled with the discovery of even more shocking and disturbing information.
 
And I’ve got to say that I am tired...
 
I’m tired of not even wanting to enter what was once a favorite place to visit because my awakened eyes tell me a depressing story, not an inspiring one.  I know too well the extent of suffering taking place.
 
I’m tired of Park Service staff that sound more like the politicians and lobbyists hired to amend the park’s legislation rather than sounding like wildlife ecologists. 
 
I’m tired of looking out over the pastoral wasteland where once an incredibly biodiverse habitat stood while hearing from the Marin conservation league that it is a marriage of wildlife and agriculture. 
Yes, a marriage where one spouse is bulldozed and shot by the other spouse. 
 
I’m tired of hearing the story of small struggling ranch families when in reality over 80% of the ranches on the Point Reyes National Seashore are leased to FOUR families,  whose collective land holdings in Marin County total over 24,000 ACRES.


I’m tired of hearing about multi generational families and how important the land is to these so-called stewards while we simultaneously ignore 10,000 years of a culture whose people actually did live with the land for millennia rather than bringing it to its knees in only a couple hundred years. 
 
I’m tired of ‘historical’ meaning a stubborn dedication to a hand-selected, relatively brief, and very destructive period in history.   We stay cemented in a past that dooms us rather than evolving, adjusting and doing what is best for the future.
I’m tired of hearing about the economic importance of the ranches even as more state and federal funds are shelled out just to keep the dying industries alive. In the meantime, the preserved portions of the park, the intrinsic value of nature, which costs us nothing, brings in economic spending that dwarfs that of the ranches. 
 
I’m tired of the self-declared most intelligent species on the planet declaring that another mammal species does not need his or her mother after birth for no reason other than economics; an industry that can only exist by stealing pregnancy lactations from a childless mother. 
 
I’m tired of seeing “conserve water” signs in communities that are blindly dedicated to what is about the most intensely water demanding industry you could think of. Take down your signs, Inverness and Point Reyes Station.  
 
I’m tired of the word sustainable being used to describe something shockingly unsustainable.  
 
And I’m tired of locals being intimidated into silence. It is time to rise up. Because the California Coastal Commission isn’t going to do the right thing.  The Marin County Board of Supervisors won’t do the right thing.  The Marin Conservation League and other so-called conservation groups (consisting of and influenced by ranchers) are not going to do the right thing. Politicians will not do the right thing and a Park Service that ignores its own environmental impact studies, will not do the right thing. 
 
Until we stop letting them off the hook.

​

So...about that water source map...and about those updates....

1. I first saw the water source map in September of 2020. Even then it wasn't accurate, being as how most of the blue dots and lines indicating water would have more appropriately been colored brown to represent the dirt and mud that was actually there.

2. This map was supposedly updated after park staff closely monitored the water situation in October of 2020. That update turned out to be a lie.
​
3. Recently the park service updated their website stating "As of March 30, 2021: Park staff mapped water sources and monitored water conditions at Tomales Point on a regular basis during drought conditions this last year, confirming adequate water supplies were available to the elk in the many creeks, seeps, and springs distributed throughout the reserve."
They once again provided the same map they provided in September of 2020 to go along with their update.

No matter how you feel about the elk or ranching, shouldn't the park service be held accountable for misleading the public...repeatedly? Go to change.org/pointreyes if you thinks so.

#watermap #pointreyes #elkwater #tuleelk #pointreyesnationalseashore #drought #lies #deception #melaniegunn #davepress #craigkenkel #elk #tomalespoint #elkfence #elkreserve #ranching #dairy

Watch for the full breakdown.  Read below for a summary

Park Service Delivers Water to Tomales Point: Morning Cup of Cow Shit

This episode walks you through everything wrong and contradictory with the park service's recent actions even when they seem to finally do something good.

1. The park service has argued against elk advocates that the elk don't need water, but are instead dying from a lack of quality forage / malnutrition. So if their goal is to help the elk why would they bring water, which they claim the elk ARE NOT lacking, rather than forage that they claim the elk ARE lacking? It's not that I don't want water there, but the park is contradicting itself. Do they really want to help the elk or is this nothing more than a gesture to try and get pressure off of them?

2. In the past, when the park service was pressured heavily to help the elk, the park service would claim they are looking into bringing in water (but never did). When they were pressured further they changed their excuse to stating the elk management plan prevents them from interfering with the elk die-offs. If the management plan truly bound their hands how is it that their hands aren't bound now?

3. The park service continues to lie and get away with it. For the third time the exact same map has been presented to the public as a supposedly "updated water map" based on recent monitoring of the water sources. Please tell me how a map that wasn't updated is also considered "updated". Please also tell me how each and every water source on the map is exactly the same as it was each time before.

4. It's disturbing to me that tourists hike out to Tomales Point, see the disgusting and almost dry pond at the very northern end and conclude this means the elk have water. You're simply not thinking this through, at least not from the perspective of a wild animal. They have home ranges for one. Tomales Point is fairly large, a disgusting mud puddle at one end isn't sufficient for every animal out there and even if it was sufficient is NOT USED by every animal out there. How do people conclude after 254 elk die followed by another 152 elk dying that there wasn't a problem just because they saw a pond on their one time trip to the park?

#elk #tuleelk #pointreyes #pointreyesnationalseashore #tomalespoint

Perspective to set the tone: McClure's "downsized" dairy will still use up to 2 million gallons of water per year. 

The Point Reyes Light misleads the public with a shocking amount of pro-ranching bias in their article about McClure Dairy.  Let me walk you through the deception paragraph by paragraph.

The Point Reyes Light article is pasted below, paragraph by paragraph, colored in red, bolded and italicized, followed by my critiques in black. 

Tomales Point rancher Bob McClure, the fourth generation on Point Reyes is shutting down his dairy this month. The spring that feeds the ranch is running dry, there is a glut in the organic milk market and he does not have a successor. He has moved to Petaluma, but plans to raise a small number of heifers on the land, which was one of six dairies in the park.

1. Why do we have to hear about which generation these people are in every article, multiple times per article?  I mean EVERY time.  Does it change facts of the story in some manner? Keep this in the back of your mind for a bit.
2. McClure Dairy is not shutting down.  This statement is simply untrue.  For starters, the McClure’s have multiple locations so even if he gave up his lease here the business continues to operate; that’s not shutting down.  Secondly, McClure intends to downsize within the park, which is quite different from shutting down.  Third, the park service knows very well that McClure is not leaving.  The park service has been approached by environmentalists regarding the lease in the hope of restoring the land to native habitat and were told that McClure is keeping his lease.  Considering that the new management plan will allow ranchers to run AirBnB and incorporate other forms of animal agriculture, my guess is that this “historic dairy” will simply find new ways to make a profit while retaining none of its historic properties.  The park service is determined to choose any option other than to restore the native habitat. 
3. The spring isn’t just magically running dry.  There is a drought, but ground water reserves are drained...by ranchers.  
4. There is a glut in EVERY milk market, not just organic.  It is overproduced, dumped, and highly subsidized each and every year by the U.S. Government to keep producing something that continues to get dumped.  We will look more deeply at this later. 
5. This article states McClure is planning to raise 150 heifers on the land.  150 heifers is no small number.  And heifers mean dairy.  There was a time when owning 150 head of cattle would have been considered quite a sizable operation, yet here we are as readers being enticed to overlook this number as if it is the equivalent of shutting down. ​

Bob McClure is closing his dairy operation in the Point Reyes National Seashore, putting an end to the largest and oldest dairy in the park and leaving the eight families who live on the land without housing or work. ​

1. Again, he is not shutting down.  This incorrect statement has already been made twice in the first two paragraphs of the article.
   
2. Regarding leaving eight families homeless, McClure pays very little to lease his massive expanse.  The lease currently available on the park’s website lists the fee at $42,000 annually for over 2 square miles of land.  2 square miles of property at the same price as a 2,000 square foot apartment in the Bay Area.  What’s the rush to evict families who have worked for the man for 20 years?  Letting people stay a while as they figure out their lives when it costs you nothing to do so is a basic decency even a stranger deserves, much less people who have given their lives to your business.  Since we know that McClure intends to keep his lease, what's the rush to evict people that are going to suffer as a result (according to this article)?
   
3. Regarding work, sure, it’s officially not McClure’s responsibility to employ these people, but if we are expected to be emotionally drawn into the issue it is only fair to ask what efforts Mr. McClure made to help these people transition.  Furthermore, how much  notice did they receive?  How long before announcing the shut down had he negotiated the selling price of his cattle for the out of state buyer?
   

The McClures have lived on the peninsula for four generations, longer than any ranching family on the point. But a number of factors—with drought at the top of the list—have pushed Mr. McClure to sell his herd of 650 cows and lay off his staff.

1. Again, the generation thing.  This is a tiresome, but standard strategy to evoke sympathy for ranchers and has been used twice already in only three paragraphs.  I’ve asked this before, but I ask again, what families aren’t multigenerational?  This is not a magical quality that exists within ranching families.  There are many examples of family businesses or trades that get passed on generation after generation, but for some reason when the family business means destroying habitat, producing insane amounts of manure, contaminating water and exploiting animals we are meant to be sympathetic.  Imagine these two scenarios of people in need;  “Hey, I’m the 5th generation of a family of teachers, but budget cuts have forced me to seek new options.”  No cries of sympathy nor government bailouts here.  On the other hand, “Hey, my industry is outdated, unsustainable, drains a drought state of what little water is left, leeches off the economy, and is generally cruel and exploitive at its core,” and you get a response from the government of “How much do you need” and from the public “Oh, you poor people.”
   
2. How did Mr. McClure have 650 head of cattle if these operations were supposed to shrink when they went organic many years ago?  McClure only had 400 cattle in 1993 according to this historical record.
   

“I’m a dairyman to the core, but there’s another life out there—and I want to see it before I’m six feet under,” he told the Light this week.
The closure comes on the eve of the National Park Service amending the seashore’s general management plan to offer 20-year ranch leases, following six decades of short-term agreements. Mr. McClure said he plans to negotiate a lease to raise heifers in an operation that would be far smaller and gentler on the land. For now, he is keeping 150 young cows to graze.

1. For the third time, it’s not closing.
2. Six decades of short term leases indicates the time period at which the lease they originally agreed to as part of the buyout came to an end.  It also marks when then superintendent John Sansing was supposed to usher out the expired ranching operations, but instead chose to keep ranching going rather than fulfilling the original intention of the purchase of the seashore.  His actions continue to haunt us to this day.
3. The same paragraph that starts by stating McClure is shutting down admits that McClure is not shutting down but is planning to negotiate a different lease. Even if he ultimately ends up shutting down, this paragraph indicates that he doesn’t intend to. 
4. “Gentler on the land” is an admission of the severe consequences dairy ranches have on land.  I just finished a new video and the horrors of McClure’s ranch take center stage in it. There is an incredibly unjustified fantasy circulating that ranches somehow enhance the seashore, but the reality is that McClure’s complex itself is hard on the eyes.  As for the land, on numerous occasions I’ve found myself just staring at the seemingly endless expanse of nothingness where once beautiful, native habitat existe.  His ranch land looks like a demilitarized zone most months of the year, the only exception being the brief months when his agricultural crops grow tall only to be mowed down with native animals still hiding inside of it.  The plant species he grows are all nonnative and many are invasive in nature, further hindering a battle for disappearing native coastal prairie that we are already badly losing.  In other words, the ranch’s only silver lining is actually a bad thing.

The McClure Dairy takes center stage in this horrifying video of Point Reyes

Mr. McClure is 60 and none of his three daughters want to take on the business after him. He has had four eye surgeries that left him vulnerable to the wind and sun. He wants to travel and spend more time with his wife, Ruth, on their small ranch in Petaluma, where she works. But although these personal factors underlie his decision, he said the main reason for shutting down was the fear of running out of water.
The drought in Marin is the worst since 1977, and it has the potential to become the worst ever. Already, farmers are scaling back their crops or skipping the season altogether, and ranchers are making plans to truck in water and upgrade their collection systems. Only 15 inches of rain have fallen in Inverness this winter, the driest year on record. The winter before was not much better, with 23 inches of rain, compared to an average of 37.5 inches.

1. It continues to baffle me that as we face another historic drought our concerns center around those who are responsible for draining the land of water.  Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, “We’ve got to eat right?” Yes, we do, I can't argue that.  But all this water isn’t used to grow crops for human consumption.  It grows hay.  It grows alfalfa.  It grows silage.  It goes into troughs so the heifers can drink upwards of forty gallons a day.  Years from now a product will finally be produced for human consumption, but only after a shockingly inefficient system has drained the earth each and every day of those years.  
   
2. This state is constantly threatened with or experiencing drought.  Why didn’t they upgrade their collection systems long ago?
   

The McClure ranch relies on a single spring that is historically abundant but is no longer recharging. At this time of year, the water typically overflows into Abbotts Lagoon, but water levels are instead falling—and at least five months without significant rainfall lie ahead.

1. If this spring wasn’t being unnaturally drained perhaps there would be a reserve for hard times like this...a reserve that the local plants and animals desperately need.  Yes, for those of you who forgot, there’s more than dairy operations trying to survive out there.  Amazingly, even as drought conditions were deemed desperate enough to allow ranchers to pump water away from a wildlife lagoon, the park service simultaneously insisted the elk locked in Tomales Point had “plenty of water”.  
2. For the reasons I listed above, I don’t like the use of the phrase ‘water levels are falling” as if there is no outside force acting upon the situation.  The more appropriate and accountable phrase would be “ water levels are being dropped by human use”.  Surely, there must be at least a few birders and other wildlife enthusiasts reading this post, so to you I ask, “How do you think the removal of water from a lagoon affects both the plants and animals? How about the disturbing noise pollution from the pumps?  Think that has any effect?”

Mr. McClure shares a pond with the neighboring Kehoe dairy as a backup, but if and when that source were to run dry, both dairies would have to either move their herds or truck in water, an expensive proposition. The McClure dairy uses an estimated 20,000 gallons of water each day, mostly for the cows to drink but also to wash manure out of the barn.

1. ​​I want to examine the figure of McClure using 20,000 gallons a day.  First of all, the 20,000 gallons a day figure in itself is horrifying...how anyone doesn’t cringe when they look at our water-starved state while reading that just one “family size” dairy alone uses that much of our disappearing, precious resource can only be attributed to cognitive dissonance. Yet I can’t help suspect the number is actually bigger.  This article states Mr. McClure is downsizing from 650 head of cattle.  The conservative figure of dairy cow water consumption on a daily basis is 30,000 gallons.  During hot weather it is estimated at 50,000.  The first calculation comes to 19,500 gallons per day and the second comes to 32,500.  So we have already reached or greatly surpassed the 20,000 gallon figure just for cattle drinking water, not factoring in how much water is used to clean the barns or water the fields or other various activities.  Would it not be fair to also include the water consumption of the 30 employees living at the ranch; after all, they are part of the dairy production? How about defecation ponds? As long as the pond is used to liquify cow manure then it is no longer usable for other creatures (Other than the noxious weeds choking out the water’s oxygen as part of the eutrophication process) therefore it is water consumed by the dairy operation.

The lack of rain causes the grass to grow slower, so the dairy must purchase more feed to nourish the cows. Feed prices are rising because farmers are also facing water restrictions.

1. What grass? You mean the fields of invasive weeds that are generously referred to as grass-fed pasture?  And that’s during the “lush” time of year!  Most months of the year McClure Dairy looks like it was used to test atomic bombs with the only signs of life being the native brush surviving on steep inclines that the cattle and ranchers couldn’t destroy.  The little grass that does grow has to be seeded each year with truckloads of seeds purchased from outside the park and transported in. Again, what an efficient industry (cough, cough)!

Beyond the drought, the economics of dairying are not as strong as they once were, Mr. McClure said. He sells his milk to Clover Sonoma, and the company sets his production limits and price per gallon. Values are down 30 percent from their peak due to a glut of organic milk producers, he said.

1. The economics of dairying haven’t been strong for a very long time.  According to the document ‘An Administrative History of Point Reyes’ dairies were starting to sell as early as the 20s.  One might argue that the government purchase of the land these dairies are currently on is the only way they managed to survive at all.  They were given multimillion dollar payouts and the option to lease back the land (at well below market value) at a time when many dairies were selling to developers.   Add to the above list the government subsidies the dairy industry receives and we’ve got a full blown charity case on our hands.
   
2. Again, it’s not a glut of just organic producers, it’s a glut of dairy. Period. 
   
3. Many people face economic challenges, including the threat of their business failing.  But in Mr. McClure’s case he was approached by Miyoko Schinner of Miyoko’s Creamery who offered to help him transition from dairy to plant-based dairy products. Miyoko also sought out the employees who were laid off, ready to offer them all jobs.  My understanding is that they all now work at another dairy, but if any of those people are reading this, you might want to reconsider your employment.  Miyoko’s pays more, offers health benefits, retirement plans, meals, and paid vacation. ​
   

Last month, he sold 80 of his cows to an out-of-state buyer that he declined to name. The buyer was pleased, and he offered to purchase the rest of the herd. At a time when people are struggling to sell organic cows, Mr. McClure was enticed by the offer. He sat down with his family and they all encouraged him to sell. The first load went out on Tuesday and the rest will go over the next two weeks. 
Mr. McClure said he may hire help after he transitions out of dairying, but once the lactating cows are gone, his business will have no income, he said.
The consequences for the around 30 people who live on his ranch are enormous. The children attend local schools, and a few of the families have lived there for over 20 years. They have one month left of work and two months before they are expected to move out. No one knows what will come next.

1. Having just interviewed an ex ranch hand at Mendoza-owned B Ranch, this tune sounds familiar.  He and his family were suddenly homeless and jobless when Mendoza decided to make changes.  The employees were told that the ranch was shutting down, but of course that didn’t end up being true.  B Ranch is still running today.
   
2. Why exactly do the families have two months before they are expected to leave?  McClure isn’t leaving.  The land isn’t going away.  These people gave him 20 plus years, yet they are out on their asses relatively overnight?  It would be one thing if McClure was shelling out money for the housing, but he’s not.  In fact, what he pays for his monstrous complex may surprise you.
   

“It’s like a really big bucket of cold water dumped on top of your head,” said Miguel Galarza, who has lived on the ranch with his wife and four kids for the last eight years.
Mr. McClure gathered his staff last week to break the news. He became emotional when he talked about that moment. “Super good guys,” he said. “Our success has always been from our employees.”

Jesus Romo has been the dairy foreman for the last 22 years. He starts each day at 6 a.m., checking the cows and giving marching orders. He enjoys the job because the weather is pleasant, Mr. McClure is a cheerful boss and the housing is relatively nice. When he told his two daughters that they were moving, he said they started crying. 

“All of our lives were here,” he said. “This is part of my family.”
He said he has no choice but to move on and look for work at another dairy. “I don’t know how to do anything else but taking care of cows—cows are my life,” he said. “It’s sad to move and do it somewhere else, but we have to keep going.”

The displacement of families exposes the intrinsic problem with tying housing to employment. The last time this many West Marin families were displaced at once was when Drakes Bay Oyster Company closed in 2014; at that time, 32 mostly Hispanic men and women lost their jobs, and the 15 families who lived onsite had to move. The housing market has only become tighter and more expensive since then.

“Trying to find homes for eight families right now when there are very little vacancies, and the urgency of having to find a home when you’re worried about public health, is very concerning,” said Leelee Thomas, a planning manager for Marin County.

Rosa Rodriguez moved to Point Reyes two years ago from the Central Valley after her husband lost his job at another dairy. Her two older sons attend Tomales High, and the youngest goes to West Marin School. She appreciated being in an unpopulated area during the pandemic and is hoping the family can find another dairy close by, where her husband can keep milking cows and her children can stay in class.

“It could destroy our education. It’s very hard for someone to focus when a lot of things are happening,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of options. There aren’t a lot of jobs, or places to live.”

1. Wow.  The Point Reyes Light spent more time focused on the drama of the displaced workers than anything else in the article.   I feel like I don’t need to spend too much more time on this one.  It is a sad and challenging situation these people are in and they will continue to face these situations as long as they make their living seeking employment at dairy ranches.  History indicates that dairies dump their employees in this manner or worse so if life improvement is the goal, contact Miyoko’s Creamery and join an industry of the future, not one of the past that is based on exploiting animals as well as the employees. 
   
2. If you have read this far I’ll risk going a little deeper on this one.  The dairy workers state they are in a tough situation because the don’t know where they will go and don’t know how to do anything else.  What’s interesting about this is that they have the same qualifications as the ranch owners.  Throughout history we see statements such as, “This is my life, this is all I know.” In his testimony against the creation of the park Joseph Mendoza even says, “We are dairy farmers, we are good for nothing else.”  When a dairy worker says something of this nature somehow it is enduring.  When an immigrant worker says it we scream, “Get some skills, get some education, get some training.”  Or if they aren’t employed by that particular rancher the cry is “Get out of this country!”
   

The future of the McClure ranch will depend on an upcoming appraisal and the park’s lease terms. The National Park Service will officially update its management plan by July, after which appraisers will determine a fair market rent for each ranch. Rental rates will account for activities occurring on the ranch, so Mr. McClure will likely pay less for a downsized operation. 

“We look forward to working with the McClures to identify a transition approach on I Ranch consistent with the General Management Plan amendment,” outreach coordinator Melanie Gunn wrote in an email.

If Mr. McClure does not sign a lease, the park service would be guided by the succession policy outlined in the amendment. The policy says that if a rancher does not wish to enter into a new lease, the park would consider proposals from other leaseholders or ranch workers within the park. If none of them are interested in operating a ranch, then the park would pursue a public process to identify an appropriate future use of the land.

1. McClure will likely pay even less?! Why don't we just give him millions of dollars and let him stay? Oh, we already did that.
   
2. Last on the list of succession are members of the public, you know, the people who actually own the land.  I don’t know what the appraisal will result in, but McClure has been paying rent based on the 1800s so I’m guessing he won’t like anything else.  Be assured, the park will do what they can to keep him there.
   

In recent years, the McClure ranch has become a target of anti-ranching and pro-elk activists; last fall, over 200 people staged a protest on the driveway. Mr. McClure didn’t have much to say on the matter; his dairy is not in the range of any elk herds. During the protest, he greeted them and observed.

1. Oh my.  McClure Ranch has become a target?  There was one event.  One.  Ever. And it was peaceful and at the edge of the ranch driveway, which, by the way, is public property, not Mr. McClure’s private property.  The most disruptive thing witnessed at the event was Melanie Gunn rudely laughing and speaking loudly with Mr. McClure while the peaceful demonstrators attempted to address the crowd.  
   
2. What does the statement, “not in the range of any elk herds mean”? His dairy is absolutely in the range of elk herds, especially if they weren’t imprisoned with a gigantic fence.  On my last three trips I photographed bull elks directly across from the McClure Ranch, presumably escapees trying to find water...or forage...or mates...or just to range as they are instinctively meant to do.  Other than Kehoe, McClure is the second closest ranch to the Tomales Point herd so I’ll have to argue the “not being in range” claim.  ​
   

Activist groups contracted water tests near his ranch this winter, and the tests showed bacteria levels that greatly exceeded recreational standards. But it was just two days of testing after rain, and credible water monitoring requires multiple tests over time to paint an accurate picture. No regular water monitoring has been conducted in the area since 2013, though the regional water board requires dairies to maintain records on manure application and storage, pasture and riparian conditions and more.

1. The first line of this paragraph would entice one to believe that a few witless environmental extremists bought a water testing kit online and gave it their best shot, but the reality is that the water tests were conducted by Douglas Lovell, a state certified environmental engineer. The samples were analyzed by McCampbell Analytical Inc. of Pittsburgh, California. 
   
2. What is the article’s intent by stating, “it was just two days of testing after rain?”. Are we to believe the tests aren’t accurate because it was after rain (a very brief rain at that)?  Any readers that don’t know better, and I’m guessing that’s most, would assume this means that testing after rain is bad, yet the California Regional Water Quality Control Board actually REQUIRES testing to take place within 24 hours of rain at operations such as McClure’s (see page 32 of the included document).  The author of this Point Reyes Light Article didn’t bother to find that out, instead likely referring to the park service staff who know nothing about how to conduct these tests since they don’t ever conduct them.  When better to get an idea of how much pollution is coming from the ranches?  I suppose ranch supporters want the test conducted following the longest stretch of no rain possible.  Maybe we should just wait until there is no water left to test.  Interestingly enough, the test actually stated that the results would have been even worse if it hadn’t been a drought year.  
   
3. We need more tests to get an accurate picture...well, wouldn’t it be great if the park service cared enough about the health of the park to be doing this testing themselves so that citizens don’t eventually feel compelled to take on this duty? It would be great to have regular testing and get a really accurate picture, but who is going to do it?  Shall concerned citizens continue to fit the bill all year long for ongoing tests only to have ranch-supporting journalists deny the results anyway? And what makes people think that the water quality will improve as long as the source of the problem continues to be present?  For the sake of argument let’s pretend that the test results were skewed.  The results exceeded safe levels by astonishing figures.  If one were to chop the actual results in half they would still greatly exceed safe levels, so what fairy tale ending do people believe can possibly be arrived at with other testing? Last time the park service was involved in the testing, 2013, the results put Point Reyes ranches at the top of water contamination locations in California.  No wonder they haven’t continued to test, being as how their job description seems to be to defend ranching in the seashore at any cost.
   
4. A last word about dairy contamination in Point Reyes.  The park service and water board allow the ranchers to do their own monitoring, submitting copy and paste waivers.  I asked Melanie Gunn, outreach coordinator for the park, about these waivers and was told that dairies get their own criteria for water examinations based on the accepted reality that dairies are so intensely damaging to the environment.  But hey, another 20 years of dairying should clear up any issues, right?
   

Mr. McClure said he complies with all of the rules. The cows go in the loafing barn during the winter to prevent manure from washing away, and the creek areas are fenced off, he said.

1. What does this mean, that the cows go in the loafing barn in the winter to keep the manure from washing away? The cattle are forced to live in a barn 24/7?  I thought part of the allure of the organic dairies was the free ranging, pasture grazing cattle?  Regardless, I already know they aren’t always in the barn in the winter because I have filmed them outside the barn in the winter on numerous occasions.  No matter where the cattle are, the real question is where does the manure go?  What do people think happens? How many options are there when answering this question?  It doesn’t disappear with the wave of a wand or get sent to the moon.  The manure ends up in either the water or the soil and to say ”the soil” is the same as saying “the water” because water seeps through the soil toward the ocean all year round.  Just ask the park service; they reassure us that this seepage is all that is required for elk survival. 
   
2. Rancher fences must not work very well because cattle are photographed often in sensitive habitat areas such as Abbott’s Lagoon, Keho Creek, and Drake’s Estero. ​
   

In his 38-year tenure, he remodeled the milking operation to make it more efficient and brought in new technology, like a no-till seed drill and automatic scrapers in the barns. Many of the improvements have been made to help conserve the environment, he said.

1. Oh man, I have to laugh out loud in the face of anyone who nodded in approval while reading this paragraph.  He installed automatic scrapers in his barns for the environment?! It scrapes the insane amount of urine and feces that his chosen industry produces off the floor without the use of physical human labor.  That sounds like it was installed for human and economic benefit, not the environment’s.  Unless he stops producing the problem it doesn’t matter how he removes the problem from his barns.  Are we supposed to be thankful that he sprays less water while hosing down the barns?  How about if instead we start recognizing how insane it is to support an industry that produces shit and uses precious water to clear it away? 
   
2. The no-till seed drill is for the environment?  No, it is a more efficient way to plant crops.  Crops that exist on land that was once beautiful, native habitat.  Now it is full of nonnative plants and cow manure.  McCure’s fields have nothing to do with the environment other than being a constant assault upon it.  No form of seed drill will change the fact that the field is an agricultural commodity, not wildlife habitat.  And when native animals make the mistake of trying to use McClure’s fields for habitat they pay the ultimate price by being chopped up in mowing blades during the spring harvest.  And again, these are crops to feed cattle, not humans. ​
   

Even with the upgrades, the ranch retains its layout from the 1800s. Nine features predating 1925 are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the large hay barn built in the 1880s. From James to Jim to Ron and now Bob, the McClures have been milking cows on Point Reyes since 1889, when products traveled by schooner to San Francisco. James McClure bought his first dairy in 1906 and the family moved around to several ranches before leasing the I Ranch in 1930.

1. Since 1971 McClure has added 35,732 square feet of structures.  That nearly doubles all structures prior to 1971 (19,019 square feet).  McClure Dairy looks like an open, festering wound on the landscape, period. Perhaps the author of this article wanted us to not realize the word “layout” means very title in terms of the physical, visual changes.  The McCure Ranch is an eyesore that can be seen from great distances. 
2. The entire rest of the paragraph can be summarized as attempts to romanticize the history of dairying while ignoring all history that came before it and ignoring the consequences we’ve endured since its arrival. ​

#mcclure #bobmcclure #mcclureranch #ranch #dairyranch #dairy #dairydamage #drought #iranch #pointreyes #pointreyesnationalseashore #pointreyesllight #manure #shameofpointreyes 

Leases and Permits

Water Quality Control Board document

Link to An Administrative History of Point Reyes
​https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/pore/admin.pdf

Link to Ranching on the Point Reyes Peninsula 
​https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/pore/ranching.pdf

Are we so incapable of change that we are willing to burn money for the sake of continuing to burn money just because there is a long tradition of burning money?

Taxpayers will fit the bill for a $400,000 plan to save businesses that already, by their very existence, are a constant drain on the taxpayers (as wells natural resources).   This plan, which was approved quietly by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, will draw what little ground water is left in order to help dairies that are the reason the water is used up in the first place.  If we've learned anything from the Marin County Board of Supervisors, this board consists of ranchers.

Do people not understand that the only reason these dying businesses are even still in business because we have propped them up for so long at the expense of our tax dollars and the environment?  How long can we keep cheering for something so bad?

Oh, right, I know... "The backbone of America, right?" "Working people." "Sustainable." "Family". "Historic." "Cultural".  
Good lord! Wake up and grow up!  You should be embarrassed that this propaganda has had such a successful effect on your ability to think clearly.  Are welfare ranchers that have leeched taxpayers for generations really what we are calling the backbone of America and a "proud tradition that must be saved"!?

I often wonder what year people will finally wake up; overcome their indoctrination and rise above that unspoken fear that tells all of us we can never ever criticize ranchers.  Based on recent events It doesn't look like it is going to happen in my lifetime, which means we are all going to march to our doom like the destructively obedient robots that we have become.

It's not just our doom.  It such a highly anthropogenic society it seems that it doesn't even cross the minds of most people that water might be serving a purpose for other creatures before we steal it for our own purposes.  We've taken so much water that now even dormant wells are being tapped.  We are literally leaving nothing for nature while somehow being amazed that the land is primed for wild fires and wildlife is no where to be found.. 

The most inefficient form of food production one could dream up, the diary industry; producing "food" that people are finally realizing is detrimental to our health not to mention the health of the planet.  "Food" that at its core is based in the misery of the animals required in the production process.  "Food" that has required so much water over the years that the rest of the land has been reduced to a death zone of dirt and invasive weeds where once flowing river systems provided for incredible biodiversity.  Damns, aqueducts, and irrigation instead steal that water to be channeled to dairies, which in turn use all that water for the incredible thirst of cattle as well as the crops required to feed the cattle.  "Food" that leads to e-coli contamination in surrounding bodies of water.  "Food that demanded so much water that we turned to aquifers...and now those are gone too.  "Food" that demands the destruction of native habitat and the shooting of native animals.

Why is it our responsibility to fit the bill to ensure that failed business models continue to limp into the future?  Why is it that when we face crisis level drought the priority is to save businesses that demand the most of what we are in short supply of?  Do we all have a death wish?

How many businesses can you say that for?  Think about it.   Can you imagine filling out a financial assistance application for your own business, but replacing your business information with that from the dairy industry?

1. My business products are dumped every year in the millions of gallons rather than positively stimulating the market.
2. My business products require government bailout every year in order to keep producing the products that will again be dumped.
3. My products require billions in marketing campaigns (funded by FDA) just to keep people purchasing the undesired products.
4. My products require more water in the production process than any other product on the market, but I would like even more in the middle of a drought in a fire-plagued state.
5. My product production requires a shocking amount of land for minimal output.  Please give me multi-million dollar easements in order to keep doing what I'm doing on that land.
6. Please keep devoting resources to Wildlife Services, a subdivision of the Department of Agriculture, to kill millions of native animals on my behalf every year, because I don't want them on my land.
7. Please force taxpayers to fit the bill for multimillion dollar methane digesters to help combat one of the many problems my businesses poses to the environment.  
8. My products cost millions of dollars in medical expenses every year, but we know that's part of the plan in this country, so please help me keep sending people to the pharmacy and the hospital.
9. My business it the biggest driver of soil erosion, water eutrophication, habitat loss and species extinction.  Just putting that in there for bonus points.

Next time you start to blindly defend dairy ranching based on little more than phrases such as "historic, cultural, and multigenerational" think about whether or not your financial assistance application would be approved just because you waived a few magic words in front of a completely flawed business model that is killing the economy, the planet, and thus the people as well.

The only way to save ourselves is to get rid of the dairies.  Oh my God, did I just say that!?  I know, I know, I just stated the unspeakable.  What a terrible person I am.  
OK, well, go ahead then, condemn me and keep your heads in the sand because reality is too uncomfortable for you to accept. ​

#petaluma #marin #sonoma #dairy #bailouts #subsidies #drought #water #wells #ranchers #sustainability #taxdollars #pointreyes