Northern News

APA CA logo

A publication of the American Planning Association, California Chapter, Northern Section

Making great communities happen

State rejects Point Reyes water contamination, climate plan

By Will Houston, Marin Independent Journal, April 9, 2022

“A year ago, the [California Coastal Commission] voted 5-4 to endorse the [Point Reyes National Seashore cleanup] planunder the condition the park return within a year to provide detailed strategies to reduce water contamination and other environmental impacts caused by [beef cattle and dairy] ranches [renting land in the seashore].

“On [April 7], the commission voted unanimously to reject the strategies the park submitted at the end of March. Commissioners said the strategies lack details on identifying priority areas for cleanup, creating benchmarks for restoration projects, and specifying enforcement actions.

“Park staff now plan to work with commission staff and state water quality regulators over the next several months and submit more detailed strategies for review in September.

“As a state entity, the commission does not have the authority to stop the park from implementing its ranching and elk plan.

“Additionally, the park service could at any time walk away from that process and the commission would have no authority to require compliance with its recommendations, staff said. The commission does have the option of filing a lawsuit.

“Commissioner Roberto Uranga said that while he is not confident that postponing the issue to September will result in a better outcome, ‘I don’t believe we can just walk away.’ ”

Read the full article here(~4 min.)

Return to Northern News here.

Scroll to Top