According to Dr. Robert Curry, director of California State University's Watershed Institute, the West Marin grasslands have been grazed for 11,000 years. Termination of grazing "can lead to the loss of grassland habitat and its displacement by dense chaparral such as coyote brush . . . ." This can lead to a significant loss in the diversity of bird and flowering plant species. In addition, chaparral burns hotter and longer than grasslands so termination of grazing can make the inevitable wildfire even more dangerous. In a range management plan for Rancho Baulines, Dr. Curry reports that the result of a chaparral fire is a greater incidence of hydrophobic soils which can lead to sheet erosion and waterway sedimentation. He points out that "Fire-induced erosion of the steep hillsides above Bolinas Lagoon could cause severe siltation of the lagoon and its tributary streams, smothering the benthic plants and animals on which numerous bird species rely for food.
HAGMAIER RANCH CONVERSION TO PACIFIC COAST LEARNING CENTER
In April 2000, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey announced that the buildings, including a former residence, at the Olema Valley's historic Hagmaier Ranch had been converted to use as the Pacific Coast Learning Center. The conversion was made without any prior public review although the Park Service announced update of its 1980 general management plan for Point Reyes National Seashore in the fall of 1999. (See Woolsey announces loss of more housing Pt. Reyes Light April 27, 2000.)
VANISHING WEST MARIN: WHOSE WILDERNESS IS IT?
Judith Coburn's article Vanishing West Marin: Whose wilderness is it? And is it even a wilderness? in the April 15, 2001 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine is an extraordinarily insightful examination into the forces underlying the tensions between the National Park Service and residents of West Marin. One of the most potent forces is the perceived conflict between preservation of natural and cultural resources. See Preserve Historic Olema Valley for more on the preservation these resources in West Marin.
PARK SERVICE ZEALOTRY V. NATURE
In an April 19th Pt.Reyes Light< editorial piece, David Mitchell concluded that "...it is primarily grazing � not the sometimes lackadaisical, sometimes overly zealous Park Service � that is protecting the Olema Valley�s cultural heritage, native plants, and wildlife. Like the Taliban, who couldn�t stand to have two magnificent (but non-Islamic) statues of Buddha in Afghanistan and so destroyed them, park staff are so fanatic in their opposition to a private resident�s maintaining Rancho Baulines (although they themselves can�t afford to do it very well) that they are in the process of destroying it. Such Park Service mismanagement is not unique to West Marin. In East Marin, the City of Sausalito is now considering a lawsuit against the Park Service to block its grandiose plan to turn Fort Baker into an immense tourist trap that would create severe parking and traffic problems.