Point Reyes National Seashore staff is working on updating its management plan for Tomales Point and the Tule elk herd there/NPS file
News that Point Reyes National Seashore staff is working to update its management plan for the Tomales Point area of the national seashore in California has spurred calls for removal of a fence used to prevent native Tule elk from intermingling with cattle herds that graze on the seashore.
In announcing the work, the seashore staff said the plan will update the management guidance of this wilderness-designated peninsula, including management of the Tule elk herd in this region of the park. The announcement noted that an area plan for Tomales Point "is needed at this time based on the severity and frequency of two historic droughts in Marin County and Point Reyes National Seashore within the last eight years. Current management guidance for this area did not anticipate these drought conditions or consider climate change, resulting in emergency actions taken to provide supplemental water and minerals for the tule elk at Tomales Point in the summer of 2021."
The planning area includes the 2,900-acre Tomales Point Tule Elk Reserve. More than 85 percent of the reserve is within the Congressionally-designated Phillip Burton Wilderness. The plan will review cultural and natural resources, management considerations in wilderness, and visitor use and access. Additionally, it is expected to include resource and site-specific analysis that can be implemented when the plan is final, as well as programmatic analysis and overall management of Tomales Point, as may be needed.
In 2015, more than 200 Tule elk at Tomales Point died as drought continued to grip California.
“The die-off of Tule elk was a needless tragedy and was difficult to witness as the Park Service delayed helping these captive wildlife,” said Laura Cunningham, California director at Western Watersheds Project. “The Park Service needs to take down the fence and let the elk roam free.”
“The National Park Service has prioritized the needs of commercial ranches over the health of wildlife at Point Reyes National Seashore for far too long,” said Chance Cutrano, director of programs with Resource Renewal Institute. “The public has overwhelmingly supported the protection of tule elk and restoration of Point Reyes National Seashore. Had the NPS listened, the agency could have invested its limited resources in removing the elk fence. Instead, it's conducting yet another planning process.”
Topics to be considered by the National Park Service during this work include removing the fence, actively managing the Tule elk herd at Tomales Point, providing water when needed, and wilderness management. An updated management plan is anticipated by late 2024.
Public comments on the planning work runs through May 2. More details on the work and a place to comment on it can be found on this page.
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Comments
Great news. Taking down the fence is well overdue. In 1993, the Report of the Scientific Advisory Panel on Control of Tule Elk on Point Reyes National Seashore concluded, "The long-range goal of elk management at PRNS should be the re-establishment of free-ranging elk throughout the seashore and associated public lands. This would involve ... removal of the fence across Tomales Point. [The National Park Service] and [California Department of Fish and Game] should develop a long-range management plan with the goal of achieving a large, healthy, free-ranging elk population subjected to a minimum of management intervention."
Tear down the deadly fence that imprisons the elk herd! Let them be free to roam~
The fence at Tomales Point prevents the Tule elk herd from accessing adequate water and food (forage) and many have recently died from starvation (documented). The fence keeps the elk from foraging in grazing areas currently used for private ranch and dairy operations, yet the National Park Service is mandated to protect and reestablish free-ranging elk throughout the park, according to the 1993 advisory report. The first step should be to remove the fence, and develop a long-term management plan for a healthy elk population, including providing water when needed.