SAVE DRAKES BAY from commercial interests

[wildflower]

Take Action Now!

[ecoearthyacht]

Come on ,
Please , don't give environmental protection a bad name in your knee jerk reactionary call to shut down a sustainable demonstration of man and nature in coexistance. The commercial oyster farm At Pt Reyes is over 60 years in operation and gives jobs, was there before the park, and if run sustainably with some measures of eco minded upgrades ,enhances the natural eco system of the inlet there. Besides , the studies show that the seals there are not adversely affected. What we need is operations like the Oyster farms of TOmales Bay and the park be done sustainably as this one is that provide local food sources that work with nature ,not against it. Enough of this ignorant eco eliteism by those who don't have understand of ing how man can work with nature as this operation does. And to the arguement that this opens the way for other commercial operations in other parks, this is a case by case situation subject to hard science and park planning and social benefit review that here passes sucessfully that test. Lets support this enterprise that is locally owned and operated sensitively to the nature preserve it is in. Again , If it needs any additional environmental mandates to operate sustainably and without impact, fine, then let them be so guided to so comply as long as they can afford those improvements. This for god sake is not some clearcutting or mining operation. Think thoughtfully before you leap making such statements , that any business in such a setting as the Pt Reyes park is bad. We here with WACCO BB have a community of intelligent informed citizens trying to find solutions that can work and lead the way demonstrating humans living and working sustainably with nature. Lets not be reactionary . Like with zoning laws that support rather than prohibit rural housing co-op's and composting toilets and grey water systems we urgently need. Again , work for humans and nature working harmoniously together. - Eco earthyacht

Take Action Now!

[sambacat]

Sadly, this commercial oyster farm in the Estero is not a "sustainable demonstration of man and nature". The motorboats used to maintain the oyster beds have torn up a significant portion of the eel grass in the area which is critical habitat to many sea creatures and the operation has disturbed the pupping of seals who come into this "protected" area for a reason. To promote jobs, at the expense of what little land is set aside for wilderness and the animals who need it, is a pathetic excuse for destruction and exploitation. This area is the only estero between Mexico and Canada that even qualifies for wilderness protection since all the other ones have succumbed to commercial exploitation. Let's save this last one! We need more, not less, wildness preserved!

[yellowbluegrey]

The National Park Service got their hands slapped for misrepresenting the environmental impacts of oyster farming in Drakes Bay:

Scientists side with Drakes Bay oyster farmer
(link to a SF Chronicle story of Wednesday, May 6, 2009)

[Cheingrand]

Ms Feinstein is wrong on this one. She keeps saying it is sustainable like that makes it okay even in a wilderness. Certain types of logging are also sustainable, but we don't allow logging in a wilderness. We need to remember that this "...sheltered estuary is the only marine wilderness on the west coast from Canada to Mexico." Kevin Lunny knew in 2005 when he signed a contract (to take over the remainder of an existing lease) that it would end in 2012 with no provisions for any extensions. He fully understood that the estero was to be turned into wilderness as planned by the National Park Service and approved in its General Management Plan. Mr. Lunny miscalculated the return on some capital improvements to the operation and now is whining that the government is trying to "force him out" in 2012 when his contract expires.

Ms Feinstein says this is a family-owned operation for 70 years and pre-dates the National Seashore. What she fails to say is that the original family (Charlie Johnson and sons) sold their remaining 7 years of the last lease in 2005. While it sounds like this is an old operation run by a single family, the Lunny family has only operated it for the last few years.

Ms Feinstein talks about 30 jobs at the oyster operation, and we shouldn't cut jobs in this tough economy. Kevin Lunny intends to automate the oyster-shucking with Ms Feinstein's extension, so it will be interesting to see how many of the 30 jobs remain.

This is a matter of a signed contract to use our land (we, the people own it) for a specified period before it reverts to a valuable wilderness unlike any other on the west coast. Mr. Lunny signed the contract knowing when it was to end. He didn't make enough money so he employs lawyers and public relations professionals to smear the National Parks Service and lobby our Senator from California.

For another look at this, see https://www.spawnusa.org/pressreleases/number-24

[lmcb]

I heard a well represented (meaning all sides of) discussion on this topic on KQED the other day. It is a rather complex issue. I came out in favor of the Oyster farmers. For several reasons.....listen for yourself.
Oyster Farming in Drakes Bay: Forum | KQED Public Media for Northern CA

[Cheingrand]

Thank you for the link. I listened to the 52 minute discussion and came away feeling that it was a lopsided, pro-oyster business presentation. If this was my only source of information, I might favor the oyster business, too. But it was a stacked deck in the studio, and Senator Feinstein and her scientist took the bulk of the call-in presentation time. Huey Johnson, ex-Secretary of the Resources Agency of California (who believes the oyster business should close in 2012) was given a few moments and then it was time for a break. I remain disappointed in Senator Feinstein for caving in to a business interest exception in the wilderness area of Drakes Estero.

[wildflower]

You accuse me of a lot of things...when I merely posted a link for you to check out.
But you're absolutely right about me. I am ALL those things you accuse me of being!
I don't think oyster farming and sustainability can be used in the same sentence, because I think they are probably incompatible.
To make a profit at an oyster business, you must disturb the environment quite a bit. There's no way to be gentle about it and harvest enough oysters to turn a profit.
Any loss of wilderness is something that should be considered as there will be no public hearing.
So I'm glad it is worthy of discussion.
You sound like you have succumbed to greenwashing in my opinion.
What would enhance the ecosystem of the inlet would be to leave it alone.

Thank you
wildflower

Come on ,
Please , don't give environmental protection a bad name in your knee jerk reactionary call to shut down a sustainable demonstration of man and nature in coexistance. The commercial oyster farm At Pt Reyes is over 60 years in operation and gives jobs, was there before the park, and if run sustainably with some measures of eco minded upgrades ,enhances the natural eco system of the inlet there. Besides , the studies show that the seals there are not adversely affected. What we need is operations like the Oyster farms of TOmales Bay and the park be done sustainably as this one is that provide local food sources that work with nature ,not against it. Enough of this ignorant eco eliteism by those who don't have understand of ing how man can work with nature as this operation does. And to the arguement that this opens the way for other commercial operations in other parks, this is a case by case situation subject to hard science and park planning and social benefit review that here passes sucessfully that test. Lets support this enterprise that is locally owned and operated sensitively to the nature preserve it is in. Again , If it needs any additional environmental mandates to operate sustainably and without impact, fine, then let them be so guided to so comply as long as they can afford those improvements. This for god sake is not some clearcutting or mining operation. Think thoughtfully before you leap making such statements , that any business in such a setting as the Pt Reyes park is bad. We here with WACCO BB have a community of intelligent informed citizens trying to find solutions that can work and lead the way demonstrating humans living and working sustainably with nature. Lets not be reactionary . Like with zoning laws that support rather than prohibit rural housing co-op's and composting toilets and grey water systems we urgently need. Again , work for humans and nature working harmoniously together. - Eco earthyacht

[photolite]

I would suggest anyone who is really interested in the nature and sustainability of oyster farming read Mark Kurlansky's "The Big Oyster - History On The Half Shell". Among other things he reveals that there has never been a device invented that can shuck oysters more quickly and economically than a human with an oyster knife (relative to the issue of retaining jobs). Oysters also filter pollutants out of sea water, a method in use today in Boston Harbor at the mouth of the Charles River to address sewage spills. Oysters are also the only farmed seafood that are indistinguishable from their wild bretheren as their feed is simply that which drifts on by, not some formulated pellet food.

You accuse me of a lot of things...when I merely posted a link for you to check out.
But you're absolutely right about me. I am ALL those things you accuse me of being!
I don't think oyster farming and sustainability can be used in the same sentence, because I think they are probably incompatible.
To make a profit at an oyster business, you must disturb the environment quite a bit. There's no way to be gentle about it and harvest enough oysters to turn a profit.
Any loss of wilderness is something that should be considered as there will be no public hearing.
So I'm glad it is worthy of discussion.
You sound like you have succumbed to greenwashing in my opinion.
What would enhance the ecosystem of the inlet would be to leave it alone.

Thank you
wildflower

[Spike]

Kudos to Photolite.

If more well-read people got involved with issues, instead of people acting on superficial gut feelings that appear to be a good idea, we'd have a lot more harmony and a lot less personal damage. Oyster beds are a good thing and generate a high quality sustainable seafood source.

Fully involved in preserving sportfishing as a wholesome family activity as well as a traditional American recreational pursuit, it's clear to me how the power of well intended opinion, over expertise and science, has often re-directed our social path in regard to fishing and fisheries. The fact that governing State agencies have been stripped of authority and budgets to successfully manage the fisheries is only one small knot in a rats nest of issues.

Take your kids fishing. Feed your family healthy, sustainable seafoods like tilapia and halibut. The fish you catch yourself is healthier than anything you can buy. The majority of seafood you buy is healthier than all poultry and meat sources.

[whale_gurl]

The Science that the PR National Park Service used has been seen to be defective. Gordon Bennet has been sadly representing the Sierra Club and is the main opponent of this battle. I would hope the Sierra Club would research their positions better next time.

I am out in kayaks on Drake's Estero and the Oyster Farm is not impacting the area negatively.

This is one issue that environmentalists are disagreeing with environmentalists.

[whale_gurl]

[quote=whale_gurl;93028]The Science that the PR National Park Service used has been seen to be defective. Gordon Bennet has been sadly representing the Sierra Club and is the main opponent of this battle. I would hope the Sierra Club would research their positions better next time. Normally, I trust them. Now, they are loosing trust and looking silly.

I am out in kayaks on Drake's Estero and the Oyster Farm is not impacting the area negatively.

This is one issue that environmentalists are disagreeing with environmentalists.

[Cheingrand]

This isn't about bad science or whether the oyster business is impacting the area. It is about a signed contract specifying a term of use that expires in 2012. All parties agreed on the term and it was understood by all that the estero would become a wilderness area when the last 40-year term was up in 2012. I am not a Sierra Club member, though I agree with their elected representative on this. I'm a kayaker too, and I look forward to the estero without a private business in it. I'm an oyster eater for many years and ate bushels of Drakes Estero oysters from Charlie and Ben Johnson back to the 70s. The contract expires for the Lunnys in 2012 ,and there will still be plenty of Tomales Bay oysters when Drakes Estero finally becomes the long-planned wilderness we've been waiting for.

The Science that the PR National Park Service used has been seen to be defective. Gordon Bennet has been sadly representing the Sierra Club and is the main opponent of this battle. I would hope the Sierra Club would research their positions better next time. Normally, I trust them. Now, they are loosing trust and looking silly.

I am out in kayaks on Drake's Estero and the Oyster Farm is not impacting the area negatively.

This is one issue that environmentalists are disagreeing with environmentalists.

[Cheingrand]

Today's Santa Rosa Press Democrat had a Close to Home piece that clearly shows how Senator Feinstein and Congresswoman Woolsey are wrong on their attempt to push an extension of the oyster business lease.
www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090707/OPINION/907079914/1307

[Spike]

That sure does fuel that side of the arguement. In the end though, if Drakes Bay prevails to producing a small number of commercial oysters beyond 2012, it appears that the resulting damage will be hurt feelings and opinion. If the commercial interest is thrown out, a handfull of people will claim a very weak personal victory that won't have marked impact beyond what a few people don't want to look at as they paddle by.

I appreciate that political change is often a long term detour to meet one small goal on the road to achieving common goals. None-the-less, there will always be winners and losers. The call to "Save" Drakes Bay makes me think that harnessed and resourced, the energy to effect change could break free of its selfish local satisfactions and actually effect change in the world food economy with benefits well beyond establishing healthy, sustainable fisheries to feed the world. It's doable, ask an Alaskan. Mexicans want to carve marinas into Baja California. Coastal polution, wetland isues and development/recovery are pervasive in the U.S. Overseas, vital mangrove forests and coastal regions are being decimated by shrimp and seafood farming, products mostly for Chinese and American tables.
It's just my opinion but I feel our efforts at home should go towards preserving sportfishing and sustainable commercial fishing as American values. In declaring a State of Emergency, Arnold acknowledged the value of salmon. So did the Feds.
In your conservation efforts, don't overlook what's happening abroad and how we as consumers generate this poorly functioning system of feeding the world.
Thanks to all positions for your time. Don't let recreational fishing become an anti-social activity, take a kid fishing.

[Cheingrand]

Thanks for the thoughtful post, Spike. I like your advice to take a kid fishing and ensure that recreational fishing is a postive, social ativity. I learned to fish in the 50s with my dad and brothers both as a recreational activity and as a way to put food on our table.

I differ with your analysis that removing the Drakes Estero oyster business in 2012 is a matter of hurt feelings and weak personal victories. It is a matter of honoring a contract and establishing the only wilderness estuary on the west coast of America. The public planning process was thorough and clear that 2012 was the end of the oyster business lease. All parties signed on to this.

There are aquaculture businesses over the ridge in Tomales Bay where delicious oysters are grown and harvested in abundance. In 2012 the public process and signed contracts should be honored, not for a small victory or to delete a fishery, but as the end of a long and planned establishment of a wilderness estuary in Drakes Estero.

That sure does fuel that side of the arguement. In the end though, if Drakes Bay prevails to producing a small number of commercial oysters beyond 2012, it appears that the resulting damage will be hurt feelings and opinion. If the commercial interest is thrown out, a handfull of people will claim a very weak personal victory that won't have marked impact beyond what a few people don't want to look at as they paddle by.

I appreciate that political change is often a long term detour to meet one small goal on the road to achieving common goals. None-the-less, there will always be winners and losers. The call to "Save" Drakes Bay makes me think that harnessed and resourced, the energy to effect change could break free of its selfish local satisfactions and actually effect change in the world food economy with benefits well beyond establishing healthy, sustainable fisheries to feed the world. It's doable, ask an Alaskan. Mexicans want to carve marinas into Baja California. Coastal polution, wetland isues and development/recovery are pervasive in the U.S. Overseas, vital mangrove forests and coastal regions are being decimated by shrimp and seafood farming, products mostly for Chinese and American tables.
It's just my opinion but I feel our efforts at home should go towards preserving sportfishing and sustainable commercial fishing as American values. In declaring a State of Emergency, Arnold acknowledged the value of salmon. So did the Feds.
In your conservation efforts, don't overlook what's happening abroad and how we as consumers generate this poorly functioning system of feeding the world.
Thanks to all positions for your time. Don't let recreational fishing become an anti-social activity, take a kid fishing.