Ten ranchers whose livelihoods are tied to grazing lands on Point Reyes National Seashore in California have asked to be allowed to intervene in a lawsuit seeking to force the National Park Service to conduct rigorous environmental impact studies on how cattle affect the seashore's natural resources. Among the ranchers is Kevin Lunny, who had run an oyster farm at Drakes Estero in the national seashore until the National Park Service refused to extend his lease beyond 2012.

A federal judge earlier this month refused to dismiss the lawsuit, which was brought by the Resource Renewal Institute, Center for Biological Diversity and Western Watersheds Project. At issue is whether the Park Service has considered the impact that these ranches have on the environment and wildlife at Point Reyes, and whether the proposal to issue new leases without an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement violates the National Environmental Policy Act.

The three conservation groups maintain that the cattle and dairy operations, comprising more than 18,000 of the park’s 71,000 acres, negatively affect the environment (water quality, methane emissions, erosion, fish habitat), the infrastructure (pavement degradation from milk trucks), and recreational opportunities at Point Reyes. They say the park is relying on an outdated management plan, adopted in 1980, that fails to address current conditions, such as climate change, drought in the area, and an expanding footprint of Tule elk.

In asking to intervene in the matter, the ranchers maintain, in part, that the Park Service can't adequately represent their interests in the case because "the NPS is charged with representing the public interest." To that point, their motion argues, the Park Service worked to end Mr. Lunny's lease for an oyster farm in the national seashore.

"As a testament to their ranch management which maintained the cultural, scenic, and environmental quality of the seashore, their ranches and the surrounding area were designated as the Point Reyes National Seashore in 1962," the motion (attached below) states. "Since then, ranching has continued, the land is still productive, wildlife is still abundant, and the scenery is still spectacular.

"The National Park Service is currently engaged in developing a Ranch Comprehensive Management Plan under the National Environmental Policy Act that will explore the issuance of long-term leases, the management of tule elk, and address the best management practices to promote protection of National Seashore resources. Proposed intervenors have a strong interest in this planning process to provide long-term certainty for their families who live and work on the ranches within the National Seashore."