Marin Voice: Migratory birds would benefit if ranching in Pt. Reyes stops

California is blessed with two stunning natural water habitats for migratory oceanic birds. One is located in the Point Reyes National Seashore in coastal Marin County. The other, 350 miles east across the Sierra Nevada close to the Great Salt Lake desert, is known as the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve.

For thousands of years, both habitats provided safe nesting and ample insects for food. The salty Mono Lake supplies brine shrimp and alkali flies for millions of birds. These special habitats should be protected as the finest treasures of nature.

However, Marin residents and the National Park Service have allowed up to 5,000 head of cattle to graze and trample its wetlands, which is detrimental to insects and small salmon.

For over a century, herds of cattle have overgrazed the coastal prairies and tidal estuaries at Point Reyes. Birds are not getting food and counts have dropped as much as 66% on Tomales Bay, according to a study by Audubon Canyon Ranch. One-third of the Seashore is fenced to protect grazing cattle in the public’s park. The soil is compacted and the air is heavy with methane. Waterways in Point Reyes are subject to cattle feces pollution.

The park service and the California Coastal Commission should remove the cattle from Point Reyes National Seashore and …

The NPS and the Coastal Commission should remove the cattle from PRNS and act before a child develops an intestinal E. Coli, or Salmonella infection. The Marin County Dept. of Environmental Health could close the park as a health hazard to visitors and wildlife.

In stark contrast, the preserve at Mono Lake is well managed by the U.S. Department of Forestry. Grazing of livestock is not allowed in the watershed. Visitors and employees who wish to study the wetlands teeming with life use efficient wooden walkways.

The water levels in Mono Lake are closely monitored by citizens groups, which protect the lake from diversions into the Los Angeles aqueduct. Fortunately, attorney George Peyton, a board member of the national Audubon Society, former attorney for Audubon Canyon Ranch (as well as for the city of Piedmont), decided to take on the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water to stabilize the level of water in Mono Lake. After a number of years, the courts handed down a win for Peyton and Mono Lake.

A small theater there runs movies of the magical flights of birds coming and going from feeding grounds in South America.

After visiting Mono Lake in September, I truly appreciate, on behalf of all Californians, the magnificent job the U.S. Forest Service is doing to protect our state’s imperiled wildlife there.

Returning home to my beloved Seashore, I grieve for its degraded beauty and vanishing wildlife. Cattle are still trampling and fouling the land and waters at Point Reyes. Our local and migratory birds are being forced to pay the price, as are we all. It may be too great a burden for the National Park Service to manage it and so many other national parks.

The little town of Lee Vining at the base of the Sierra Nevada provides lodging along Highway 395. For birders and nature lovers, Mono Lake is well worth a visit. In 1938, I wrote to my family about hiking the John Muir Trail, including a stretch across Mono Pass. My account, with photos, is posted at MartinGriffin.org. At the time, I was being trained in the Army ROTC to become an officer at Oakland Technical High School before the start of World War II.

Dr. Martin Griffin of Belvedere co-founded Audubon Canyon Ranch.