News Release

The National Park Service Seeks Public Input for Management of Tomales Point at Point Reyes National Seashore

Aerial photograph of Tomales Point.

NPS Photo / Anela Kopshever

News Release Date: March 31, 2022

Contact: Melanie Gunn, 415-464-5131

Please note: On Tuesday, April 26, 2022, the comment period was extended to Monday, May 9, 2022.

POINT REYES STATION, Calif. – The National Park Service (NPS) is initiating a public planning process and 30-day comment period for the Tomales Point area of Point Reyes National Seashore. This plan will update the management guidance of this 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 within the last eight years. 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 announcement initiates a 30-day public comment period that will end on Monday, May 2 Monday, May 9. The preferred method for commenting is online through the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment website https://parkplanning.nps.gov/tpap. Comments may also be submitted by mail or hand delivery to:

Tomales Point Area Plan
c/o Superintendent
Point Reyes National Seashore
1 Bear Valley Road
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956

Please note that comments will not be accepted by fax, email, or any other way than those specified above. Bulk comments submitted on behalf of others in any form are not accepted.

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.

Please visit the park website www.nps.gov/pore for more information about Point Reyes National Seashore.

-NPS-

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