Breaking Down the Propaganda
The ranchers, their supporters, their lobbyists, and their politicians have spread a lot of false information over the years in their quest to continue profiting from the exploitation of our national seashore.
The ranchers, their supporters, their lobbyists, and their politicians have spread a lot of false information over the years in their quest to continue profiting from the exploitation of our national seashore.
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Politicians Paid to spread Special Interest Lies
Congressman Jared Huffman delivers lies to an audience that supports him for telling those lies, after all, these are their lies. What lies am I referring to? Well, where shall we begin? The lies they tell you or the lies you tell yourself in order to be at peace with a horrific industry in the name of tradition? |
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Struggling Americans
“Struggling families working to put food on the plates of the American people.” Ah, yes, nothing quite like abusing the American flag, manipulating the concept of patriotism in order to serve your own purposes. Regarding struggling families, these people are wealthier than 90% of the American population, receive discounted rates to live on land we’d kill to live on, while having the expenses of their businesses aided with our tax dollars... |
this is all after their families were given millions of dollars for land they refuse to leave. They wouldn’t trade their accounts or assets with anyone watching this video, certainly not me. As far as feeding the American people, dairy and beef products are luxury items that we don’t need and many can’t afford, particularly products from these niche, organic operations. The only reason meat and dairy are as affordable as they are is because the U.S. government heavily subsidizes these products, which means these the insistence on continuing with such business practices instead of evolving like the rest of us are expected to is actually a drain on our economy.
If the priority was an altruistic desire to feed the American people, this massive silage field, one of several within Point Reyes National Seashore, which was grown and harvested exclusively as supplemental feed for cattle, had instead consisted of food grown for human consumption, there might have been a tiny little argument that the motivation was to feed people. But the motivation is money, perhaps personified best by the Evans family ranch, multimillionaires who have managed to market dairy beef as a desired product, thus raising the price even further for those who can afford the unique dining experience of eating the flesh of milk cows, slaughtered at an early age once their bodies were completely exhausted from being forced to be perpetually pregnant and overproduce milk. Hurray America!
If the priority was an altruistic desire to feed the American people, this massive silage field, one of several within Point Reyes National Seashore, which was grown and harvested exclusively as supplemental feed for cattle, had instead consisted of food grown for human consumption, there might have been a tiny little argument that the motivation was to feed people. But the motivation is money, perhaps personified best by the Evans family ranch, multimillionaires who have managed to market dairy beef as a desired product, thus raising the price even further for those who can afford the unique dining experience of eating the flesh of milk cows, slaughtered at an early age once their bodies were completely exhausted from being forced to be perpetually pregnant and overproduce milk. Hurray America!
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Sustainable: The Most Abused Word in Point Reyes
Vote for your top sign that dairy ranching is sustainable: 1. The need to kill wildlife just to get by 2. The need to steal mother's milk from babies just to get by. 3. The need for discounted leases and financial aid just to get by. 4. The need to force animals into overproduction. 5. The need for thousands of acres of supplemental cow feed (in addition to grazing). 6. The need for tons of hay also as supplemental cow feed (in addition to all the above). |
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Ranchers Providing Wildlife Habitat:
On the Point Reyes Rancher's Association webpage, a page full of propaganda and flat out lies, Dave Evans provides some interesting quotes about ranching and habitat. Leave it to a multimillionaire who makes a living exploiting animals and the habitat to claim what he does is good for the habitat! Although not limited to his claims, he refers to providing habitat to the California Red Legged Frog as well as providing an extremely diverse ecosystem. |
Well, these frogs are trying to eek out existences in and near ponds that are constantly trampled by thousands of massive bovines that also like to defecate in the ponds. Not only that, but ranchers dump portions of the millions of tons of manure their cattle produce into poop ponds where it is liquified then distributed over the seashore again. If animals love shit-saturated water and soil, then yeah, this is great habitat. Here’s a crazy idea, instead of the frogs living in shit-filled ponds, we could just give them...ponds!
As far as diverse habitat, ranching lands look like poorly managed golf courses, a far cry from anything wild animals can use as true habitat. Or in the case of the annual silage crops, many animals attempt to use this as habitat only to be consequently mowed down in the spring harvest. Chopping up native animals seeking refuge and nesting grounds...how’s that for providing habitat?
There is NO wildlife habitat that is better with ranching than without it! Period!
Be warned, the rest of the Ranching Association page is also filled with lies. Those are covered in separate videos.
#ranching #propaganda #lies #cattle #habitat #pointreyes #pointreyesnationalseashore #wildlife #manure #saturation #redleggedfrog #endangered #endangeredspecies #frog #shameofpointreyes
As far as diverse habitat, ranching lands look like poorly managed golf courses, a far cry from anything wild animals can use as true habitat. Or in the case of the annual silage crops, many animals attempt to use this as habitat only to be consequently mowed down in the spring harvest. Chopping up native animals seeking refuge and nesting grounds...how’s that for providing habitat?
There is NO wildlife habitat that is better with ranching than without it! Period!
Be warned, the rest of the Ranching Association page is also filled with lies. Those are covered in separate videos.
#ranching #propaganda #lies #cattle #habitat #pointreyes #pointreyesnationalseashore #wildlife #manure #saturation #redleggedfrog #endangered #endangeredspecies #frog #shameofpointreyes
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False Preservation:
Let’s look at best practices and recommendations as part of what the park service likes to tell the public is a working marriage of wildlife and agriculture. The 2019 grazing plan included recommendations for reducing ranching impacts on wildlife. Isn’t that great. Problem is these recommendations were provided in a 1999 report and again in a 2014 report. And yet, after 20 years rather than being in practice these recommendations continue to be little more than lip service. |
Documents obtained through the freedom of information act show that even concerned citizens wrote in encouraging the park service to take action.
Reasonably, at this stage one might be asking why a park service insists on not enforcing wildlife friendly practices.
Indeed, why, of all places, is a national seashore failing to replace the problematic, tall, barbed wire fences with wildlife friendly fences, which would be better for both ranchers and the animals?
Why is the seashore covered with open feeding troughs which have been proven to feed non native birds, which then push out native species of birds.
Why are the ranchers still mowing down spring babies just as they are entering the world during their annual silage harvest despite studies proving this to be a problem to population levels of native birds. Analysing the statistics of the bird populations following the silage mowing is one thing, but let’s not forget the raw and horrific fact that nesting animals are being chopped up in mower blades. And it’s not just birds, it’s any young animal burrowing or taking refuge in these fields. And the fact that the ranchers mow from the outside in, which is the exact opposite of the published recommendations, even adult animals can find themselves trapped.
But let’s not forget that the number one threat to the snowy plover is the growing population of common ravens, which prey upon and raid the nest of the plovers. It is indisputable that the ranching activity is the number one promoter of these raven populations. But hey, don’t let that stop you from appreciating that the park service puts up signs regarding nesting season of the snowy plover.
Reasonably, at this stage one might be asking why a park service insists on not enforcing wildlife friendly practices.
Indeed, why, of all places, is a national seashore failing to replace the problematic, tall, barbed wire fences with wildlife friendly fences, which would be better for both ranchers and the animals?
Why is the seashore covered with open feeding troughs which have been proven to feed non native birds, which then push out native species of birds.
Why are the ranchers still mowing down spring babies just as they are entering the world during their annual silage harvest despite studies proving this to be a problem to population levels of native birds. Analysing the statistics of the bird populations following the silage mowing is one thing, but let’s not forget the raw and horrific fact that nesting animals are being chopped up in mower blades. And it’s not just birds, it’s any young animal burrowing or taking refuge in these fields. And the fact that the ranchers mow from the outside in, which is the exact opposite of the published recommendations, even adult animals can find themselves trapped.
But let’s not forget that the number one threat to the snowy plover is the growing population of common ravens, which prey upon and raid the nest of the plovers. It is indisputable that the ranching activity is the number one promoter of these raven populations. But hey, don’t let that stop you from appreciating that the park service puts up signs regarding nesting season of the snowy plover.
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Ignoring the Public
In light of the park doing the opposite of what the results indicated, this should be called the Non Responsive Management Survey. This raises valid concern over whether the park service actually cares about the public’s opinion. Or are surveys and comment collections nothing more than providing the appearance of caring? Or is it that the park service is so thoroughly under the influence of the ranching community that they can’t take appropriate action even if they wanted to? |
Look at the results from the park service’s “Responsive Management Survey” in which the public voted overwhelmingly in favor of increasing wilderness and protecting wildlife in every set of questions while simultaneously voting against ranching in each set of questions. Add to this evidence that overwhelming and passionate public comments urging the park service not to pursue their current course of action and one has to wonder if all public sentiment is hitting a brick wall of agricultural corruption.
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Wasted Resources
Imagine what Point Reyes could look like by now of the park service spent its time and money restoring the seashore rather than dealing with ranching issues. Take these two documents for example: Earlier this year the park service released a grazing plan for the seashore, which was basically them hiring a range department from an ag school to analyze any possible way to present the incredibly destructive practice of cattle grazing in a positive light. |
This document was 125 pages long. 125 pages of analyzing something that shouldn’t even exist.
Then while perusing documents from the park obtained via the freedom of information act I randomly stopped on one that analyzed the impact of adding a manure holding pond and building giant barns on one dairy. This document was 126 pages long. 126 pages of analyzing the effects of adding a poop pond to the other poop ponds in the seashore already saturated with poop.
Imagine what this seashore could look like if the park service wasn’t so busy adding poop ponds to the seashore at the ranchers’ request and instead did things like, restore habitat, such as was mandated by the original legislation.
Then while perusing documents from the park obtained via the freedom of information act I randomly stopped on one that analyzed the impact of adding a manure holding pond and building giant barns on one dairy. This document was 126 pages long. 126 pages of analyzing the effects of adding a poop pond to the other poop ponds in the seashore already saturated with poop.
Imagine what this seashore could look like if the park service wasn’t so busy adding poop ponds to the seashore at the ranchers’ request and instead did things like, restore habitat, such as was mandated by the original legislation.
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The Elk Die Off: Intentional Neglect?
Allowing the 254 elk to die of thirst is one of the seashore's darkest moments...but the more you look at the evidence, the harder it is to believe this was an accident. |
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Barbed Wire VS. WIldlife (long version)
Does disposed barbed wire count as providing good habitat? According to freedom of information documents, fencing wire has been found carelessly disposed around the park. Additionally, wildlife friendly fencing alternatives, which would reduce damage to both the animals and the fences while still accomplishing their goals, have been suggested. Why this wouldn’t be immediately implemented in a national seashore leaves one to really struggle with what the priorities of the park service are…
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In this video former environmental attorney Jim Coda explains the horrific fates of the animals featured in his photos.
#ranching #propaganda #lies #cattle #habitat #pointreyes #pointreyesnationalseashore #wildlife #elk #tuleelk #fences #barbedwire #wildlifefriendlyfencing
#ranching #propaganda #lies #cattle #habitat #pointreyes #pointreyesnationalseashore #wildlife #elk #tuleelk #fences #barbedwire #wildlifefriendlyfencing
