The Park Service intends to rehabilitate facilities at the historic Pierce Ranch for visitor use/NPS file

Tule elk at Point Reyes National Seashore will have more room to roam, but fewer manmade water holes, under a management plan approved by the National Park Service.

The plan being adopted at the seashore in California calls for removal of a tule elk enclosure fence and all temporary water systems installed during the most recent drought. At the same time, the Park Service will erect a wildlife-friendly fence to prevent cattle from entering the planning area, the plan said.

It also includes future opportunities to improve recreational uses and the visitor experience at historic Pierce Ranch, new approaches to preserve and maintain wilderness character in the Phillip Burton Wilderness, and methods to better protect natural and cultural resources. 

The new plan replaces the 1998 Tule Elk Management Plan and revises the 1980 General Management Plan (GMP) for Tomales Point. The 2,900-acre planning area includes all lands north of and including the tule elk enclosure fence. More than 85 percent of the planning area is within the Phillip Burton Wilderness.

"We analyzed three alternatives and incorporated feedback from over 35,000 public comment letters gathered during three comment periods,” said Point Reyes Superintendent Anne Altman. “The benefit of removing this enclosure is to allow elk to access additional habitat, increase the species’ population resilience during drought, and promote a more natural population cycle.” 

The plan also calls for improvements to parking areas and restroom facilities in a way to manage visitor capacity at the Pierce Ranch and Tomales Point trail system. Additionally, "a location-based reservation system would be established for authorized Tomales Bay beach camping within the planning area," the plan said. "This would be incorporated into the current reservation system to require use of specific assigned locations."

The Park Service collaborated with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria to incorporate tribal views and traditional ecological knowledge into the management of this area. Under the plan, the Park Service intends to "represent Coast Miwok histories and stories in interpretation and education, and to help maintain and restore the tribe’s continued engagement with their ancestral territory."

The agency also plans to rehabilitate the historic Pierce Ranch facilities and consider using them "to enhance its function as a core location for visitor use at Tomales Point. Circulation patterns within the developed areas of Pierce Ranch and McClures Beach Trailhead would be revised to bring more visitors through the historic site."