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The National Park Service (NPS) initiated a public planning process and 30-day comment period for the Tomales Point area of Point Reyes National Seashore on March 31, 2022. The original public comment period was extended by seven days and closed on May 9, 2022. This plan will update the management guidance of the wilderness-designated peninsula, including management of the tule elk herd in this region of the park. The park will collaborate with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria to incorporate tribal views and traditional ecological knowledge throughout this process. The development of an area plan for Tomales Point is needed at this time based on the severity and frequency of two historic droughts in Marin County and Point Reyes National Seashore since 2013. Current management guidance for this area did not anticipate these drought conditions or consider climate change, resulting in emergency actions taken to provide supplemental water and minerals for the tule elk at Tomales Point in the summer of 2021. The planning area includes the 2,900-acre Tomales Point Tule Elk Reserve. More than 85% of the reserve is within the Congressionally-designated Phillip Burton Wilderness. The plan will review cultural and natural resources, management considerations in wilderness, and visitor use and access. The plan will include resource and site-specific analysis that can be implemented when the plan is final, as well as programmatic analysis and overall management of Tomales Point, as may be needed. This pre-National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) public engagement will inform the development of an environmental impact statement anticipated to be initiated in the spring of 2023. Additional opportunities for public comment including public meetings will be offered at that time and after development of a draft planning document. The NPS anticipates completing the environmental review by the end of 2024. Once completed, this plan will replace the 1998 Tule Elk Management Plan and the park's General Management Plan for the planning area. This planning is separate from the recent General Management Plan Amendment which addressed ranching within the park and free-ranging tule elk. Downloadable FilesDear Interested Party Letter - March 31, 2022 (552 KB PDF) |
Last updated: February 9, 2024