Elk crossing Limantour road in Point Reyes / NPS

Editor's note: This corrects in 6th graph how the Drakes Estero herd was established.

A federal judge ruled on Monday that the National Park Service must temporarily halt the removal of a two-mile-long fence that separates a 2,900-acre elk reserve from historic cattle ranching operations on Tomales Point within Point Reyes National Seashore in Northern California.

On December 2, the Park Service issued its decision to remove the fence, seemingly ending a protracted struggle between environmentalists who supported free roaming elk on the point, and ranchers who sought to preserve the separation for fear of the effects on their livestock operations. The very next day, though, the California Cattlemen's Association filed a lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order blocking the fence's removal.

District Judge Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, without explanation, granted the TRO.

Dismantling the elk fence was part of a management plan adopted by the National Park Service for Tomales Point. After two years of discussion and more than 35,000 public comments received, the Park Service decided to remove the fence to allow the elk access to more habitat and, crucially, more available water sources. Point Reyes, like much of Northern California, is subject to boom-or-bust rain cycles and during times of drought, water must be trucked into artificial troughs built for the elk. 

The water infrastructure is also to be removed, according to the new management plan. 

Without the fence, the elk herd will be able to roam and graze across much of the entirety of the 71,000-acre seashore. 

Ranchers object to this, citing long-standing concerns about elk and cattle clashing. After the Park Service relocated some elk from Tomales Point to the Limantour area, some managed to cross Drakes Estero and establish a herd on Drakes Beach. Ranchers there have complained of about those elk trampling fences and bullying cattle away from food and water sources. According to testimony filed in the lawsuit (attached below), ranchers have observed elk goring cattle with their antlers. 

"I am gravely concerned that the removal of the Tomales Point elk fence is likely to quickly result in elk escaping into more northern portions of the Pastoral Zone, including the Historic G Ranch, and cause harms there similar to the significant harms the free-ranging herd has already caused in the southern portions of the Pastoral Zone," wrote rancher Kevin Lunny, a plaintiff in the case. 

Almost immediately after the NPS issued its decision to remove the fence, sections of it were dismantled, much to the dismay of ranchers. In their complaint, the ranchers argue the Park Service failed to properly prepare environmental impact reports that would include data about potential damage to pasture areas. 

The restraining order sets the stage for a hearing on February 13, 2025.