Nearly four decades before the settlement of Jamestown, Englishman Francis Drake navigated the Pacific Coast of California. In his attempt to return to England, he careened his ship and established a temporary encampment while repairs to the ship were made. The designation of the Drakes Bay Historic and Archeological District at Point Reyes National Seashore recognizes the historic and archeological evidence identifying Drakes Bay as the most likely site of Francis Drake’s California Landing in 1579, signifying one of the earliest instances of European contact and interaction with the native peoples on the west coast, the Coast Miwok Indians.

Work is getting underway this week at Point Reyes National Seashore in California to remove an estimated 500 tons of debris from Drakes Estero, which is part of the Phillip Burton Wilderness in the park.

A U.S. District Court has refused to dismiss a lawsuit over the National Park Service's continued allowance of cattle ranching at Point Reyes National Seashore in California, a ruling that could lead the seashore staff to conduct detailed environmental studies on the operations' impacts.

Less than two years after an oyster-farming operation was shut down in Point Reyes National Seashore following a dispute that was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, three environmental groups are challenging the National Park Service over the planned renewal of leases to cattle-ranching and dairy operations that have existed on the coastal California peninsula for 150 years.