amrita_bindu

Secretary of the Interior, Debra Haaland
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240
(202) 208-3100
feedback@ios.doi.gov



Dear Secretary Haaland:

Due, not only to the gravity, but the dire urgency of the situation, your attention is immediately required upon the impending 59th anniversary of Point Reyes National Seashore on September 13, 2021, the now extended deadline of the record of decision to be made regarding the fate of our nation’s one and only National Seashore on the entire Pacific coast.
PRNS is home to sensitive and diverse ecology including nearly half of North American bird species, 750 flora species and over 50 species federally or state-recognized as rare, threatened or endangered (1), with special interest on the reestablishment of once endangered, Tule Elk. The devastatingly poor management of the Tule Elk herds has been of high attention and deep concern to the public and the California Coastal Commission alike. There are many lawsuits at play over what has been permitted to occur, and only a complete renewal of the management approach can divert this offense.
At this time, NPS is favoring a Trump-era plan, Alternative B, and failing to heed the overwhelming voice of the public, purchase agreements, and/or scientific recommendation. The original intention and public purchase to begin and complete the conversion of this area from cattle industry, which sits atop Coast Miwok ancestral lands, into the intended National Seashore designation is absolutely critical; ever more so now, during this time of climate crisis and wilderness degradation. The roughly $1.5 million, publicly funded, Environmental Impact Statement has made this necessity explicitly clear. (2)

The Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin has sent an open letter to PRNS calling them as well as yourself to reject the management plan proposed by Park officials, stating,
“Private ranching operations in the park are damaging Miwok archeological sites. A proposal to protect those sites was discarded by the Park Service and replaced in 2015 with a plan to protect “historic” dairy ranches.
‘Since time immemorial Coast Miwok people have occupied, tended, stewarded and defended the land of Point Reyes,’ said Jason Deschler, dance captain and headman with the Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin. ‘The Park Service proposal to shoot indigenous tule elk and promote ranching that harms wildlife, water and habitat is a travesty and contrary to the traditions of our ancestors.’ (3)
Daily public outcry has been expressed through over 100,000 letters delivered to you in Washington, DC asking you to intervene in the interest of our nation’s well-being, from the smallest of the crawlers to the largest of the four-leggeds, from the lowest of the two-legged to the highest of the winged. We are all looking to you, protect the life we have left. Your direction will shape the future for all to see. Sign Alternative F, honor this place, this time. It’s up to you.

Aho Mitakuye Oyasin,
All My Relations



Attached documents
Environmental Impact Statement (2)
Coast Miwok Tribal Council Press Release (3)

1. https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/nature/endangered_animals.htm

2. https://parkplanning.nps.gov/showFile.cfm?projectID=74313&MIMEType=application%252Fpdf&filename=Point%20Reyes%5FNorth%20District%20Golden%20Gate%20NRA%20GMP%20and%20EIS%5F508%2Epdf&sfid=440519

3. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3-wagtail.biolgicaldiversity.org/documents/Formal_Ltr_to_D._Haaland.pdf