The Issue of Oysters In Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore

Marin Conservation League has been involved in the preservation of unique ecosystems in Pt. Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) for more than 70 years – beginning with the first acquisition of Drakes Beach by the League in 1938, to designation of wilderness areas within the seashore in 1976.  At that time, Congress designated Drakes Estero as potential wilderness to allow the existing Johnson Oyster Company to continue as a nonconforming use until its permit expired.  Kevin Lunny purchased the company in 2005 (Drakes Bay Oyster Co.), with seven years remaining in its 40-year right to use and occupy ("RUO"), negotiated in 1972 to terminate in 2012.  With full knowledge of the termination date, the new owner launched a campaign to seek an extension that would have the effect of upending the federal Wilderness Act protections and basic park policy. This action bypassed years of public expectations for Drakes Estero to be preserved as refuge for wildlife under the most natural conditions possible, free from commerce.

MCL fully supports the continuation of agriculture within the pastoral zone of PRNS, as designated in 1976.  The Drakes Estero is a different matter!  Senator Feinstein's backdoor rider to an appropriations bill would perpetuate for another 10 years a commercial operation in the Estero that runs counter to the wilderness system and would set a dangerous precedent for wilderness areas nationwide.  Therefore, MCL supports current efforts to persuade Congress to strip the amendment from the appropriations bill, believing that the long-term public investment in wilderness and the national parks system is being pushed aside for the short-term benefit of one business.

2010 Documents and Correspondence

• June 16, 2010, MCL letter to Interior Secretary Salazar
  

• October 13, 2009, Dr. Marty Griffin's Marin Independent Journal Marin Voice Column
• July 14, 2009, MCL Oral Testimony Before the Marin Board of Supervisors
• January 21, 2009, MCL Letter to Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey