Seashore Community Outreach Newsletter #1 – June 23, 2024

Karen Budd-Falen Update

Hello Members & Friends –

My name is Mark van Krieken and I’m the Association’s Seashore Community Outreach Coordinator – a new position established by the PRSVA as a result of conversations held with Karen Budd-Falen at the April 16th Open House regarding the Seashore.  As many of you already know, Ms. Budd-Falen (the #3 official in the DOI) has been sent out here from DC to come up with a recommendation for the dairies-on-the-Seashore issue.  The reason I’m writing is that some of her answers indicated that she and the DOI may be considering more than just reintroducing dairy ranches into the Seashore, and that she plans to lead a community process towards that end.  If there is even a chance of this happening, we all need to become involved and informed to stay on top of this.

Conversation With Karen Budd-Falen

Timeline & Community Process – When asked about where we are in the timeline for making a decision, Ms. Budd-Falen very emphatically responded, “The beginning. We’re at the very beginning.”  As to whether there would be a community process in working towards a final decision, she stated that there definitely would be. She added that she would personally be leading it and was planning to come out here multiple times to head that process. As to when that process might start, she answered that she hoped to have the first meeting no later than July.

Multiple Proposals – When asked if the community process would center on Albert Straus’s proposal, Ms. Budd-Falen said it would not, that it was just a starting point and that she hoped to have a number of different proposals ready for the community to consider by the time the community meetings start in July.  The proposals would be based on the feedback she’s gathered from various stakeholders.  (I’m not sure if these various stakeholders would be supplying the actual proposals, or if she and her staff would be creating proposals based on what they heard from various individuals and groups.  It sounded like it might be the latter.)  I asked if the community would have to choose one of the proposals presented or if they were starting points from which we could all work, to which she hesitated before answering that there would be room for discussion on all the proposals.

Parameters for the Decision – Ms. Budd-Falen said there were clear parameters within which she was working, which were defined by Congress and the courts.  She pointed out that Congress determined the specifics of everything to do with the Seashore, and the courts made a decision with the recent settlement agreement, and that she cannot go against either of those two institutions in making her recommendation.  She specifically stated, “The settlement decision will not be overturned.”  Ms. Budd-Falen added that she would not be making the final decision, as that would be up to the head of the National Park Service (Doug Burgum as head of the Department of the Interior (DOI)).

The Presidio Model – Ms. Budd-Falen was asked if she was considering the Presidio model for the Seashore and responded, “We’re looking at that.”

Implications

What any of this could mean for the Seashore is anybody’s guess, as Ms. Budd-Falen did not provide any specifics.  But the statement that Albert Straus’s proposal was a “starting point” for four or five other proposals, and that the Presidio model was being considered, may be reason for concern for people on both sides of the ranching issue.  Another reason for concern is that if the DOI reintroduces private industry into the Seashore (dairy or otherwise), it could be used as a precedent for other National Parks.  This Administration has been very vocal about their desire to get private industry (particularly extraction industries) into public lands.  Bryce, Zion and The Grand Canyon, for example, could be placed at increased risk.

TNC & PRNS Response

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) both meet with representatives from the DOI on a regular basis (as do the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (FIGR)).  The TNC and the PRNS confirm that a public meeting is in the works for late July/early August, but report that the only topic of conversation, at least so far, has been grazing.  (The latest information Congressman Huffman’s office has is also a late July date to discuss grazing.)

Moving Forward – Informing & Engaging the West Marin Community

The PRSVA’s goals for our Seashore effort are to prepare and involve as much of the West Marin Community as possible for whatever proposals or process the DOI presents.  Over the years, there has often been a lot of misinformation or a total lack of information regarding the Seashore, and we’re hoping to put together an effort that will help address that. Our main tools will be periodic email reports, and the establishment of a Seashore-specific webpage on the PRSVA website where we’ll try to post as much relevant information as we can find about all things Seashore and DOI.  We should have the webpage up within a week or so, and I’ll email everybody once it’s ready.  The page will also have a link for joining our Seashore/DOI mailing list.  Everybody who’s already on the PRSVA’s general email list will be automatically included in the Seashore-specific list, but we will also be making a huge effort to bring in as many people as possible from the rest of West Marin.