Feds Shut Down Historic Northern California Oyster Farm
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, too. Salazar just announced that he is shutting down a historic oyster farm along Point Reyes National Seashore, designating the site as a wilderness area. As of tomorrow.
Point Reyes National Seashore was added to the national parks system by Congress in 1962, including protection for more than 80 miles of California coastline in the area.
The Lunny Family’s Drakes Bay Oyster Co. is recognized by several environmental groups for its environmentally friendly stewardship. The company is Salmon Safe, Animal Welfare Approved, and Marin Organic Certified.
“We have 30 families that depend on this farm,” said Kevin Lunny, coowner of Drakes Bay Oyster Company. “And half of them, their homes depend on it, too, because they live on this farm.”
The Drakes Bay Oyster Co. provides 40 percent of the California oyster market.
The Lunny family’s federal Reservation of Use and Occupancy permit in Drakes Estero expires Nov. 30. The Lunnys and California environmental officials note the family has a long history of environmentally friendly oyster cultivation.
“It’s been a struggle,” said Lunny. “In a nutshell, we are cattle ranchers and oyster farmers in Pt. Reyes. It’s been traditionally agricultural land. In the 1960s or 1970s, the National Park Service purchased land and made it into a unit of the national parks. But we had an agreement. The ranchers agreed to sell and the parks service would make it a preservation area so long as they could still use it.”
The partnership progressed smoothly until 1976 and the passage of the Point Reyes Wilderness Act, Lunny said. At first, the federal government agreed the state held an “indefinite right” to issue shellfish leases, regardless of the proximity of the federally preserved wilderness property,
“We have 30 families that depend on this farm,” said Kevin Lunny, coowner of Drakes Bay Oyster Company. “And half of them, their homes depend on it, too, because they live on this farm.”
This happened locally to an area farmer.. his bay-side property was key to a large parcel of land being preserved. he made an agreement with the state to sell his property to them under a conditional use agreement..
when the state later sold the properties to the fed and a conservatory, they said the agreement didn't apply to them.. and he was forced to give up farming the land mid-season.. he had already planted soybeans and wasn't even allowed to harvest them..
the cost of fighting the fed was to high.. so he gave up...
now the fields are a huge weed patch and look awful.. the fed even refused to honor their agreement with the state to maintain it, and reseed it back to native marsh and meadow grass.
last year they brought down a tractor with a brush cutter, made one pass, claimed the filed was to over grown with "native bushes to mow and reseed, ..in effect claiming they "tried" but the natural conditions prevented them from their obligation.
the tractor was still sitting over there a year later.. pretty pathetic if you ask me..