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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Wilderness Status." National Research Council. 2009. Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12667.
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Page 105
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Wilderness Status." National Research Council. 2009. Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12667.
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Page 106
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Wilderness Status." National Research Council. 2009. Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12667.
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Page 107
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Wilderness Status." National Research Council. 2009. Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12667.
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Page 108
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Wilderness Status." National Research Council. 2009. Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12667.
×
Page 109
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Wilderness Status." National Research Council. 2009. Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12667.
×
Page 110
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Wilderness Status." National Research Council. 2009. Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12667.
×
Page 111
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Wilderness Status." National Research Council. 2009. Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12667.
×
Page 112
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Wilderness Status." National Research Council. 2009. Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12667.
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Page 113

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Appendix A Wilderness Status The National Park Service position that it cannot authorize continued operations beyond the expiration of the Reservation of Use and Occu- pancy in 2012 is primarily based upon the 1976 Point Reyes National Seashore legislation. National Park Service Reservations of Use and Occu- pancy (RUOs) are created as part of the real property transaction when the United States purchases the underlying land, and the National Park Service does not renew or extend expired RUOs. After the expiration of a National Park Service RUO, continued use and occupancy of the land is possible if a new authorizing instrument can be issued under appli- cable laws. The National Park Service and the Department of the Interior Solicitor’s Office read the 1976 legislation designating Drakes Estero as Potential Wilderness and strengthening the enabling act for Point Reyes National Seashore [P.L. 94-544 (Oct. 18, 1976) and P.L. 94-567 (Oct. 20, 1976), 16 U.S.C. § 1132 note] as eliminating the discretion of the NPS to authorize continued operations through a new authorizing instrument beyond the expiration of the RUO in 2012. In addition to the 1976 legis- lation, other legal requirements that the NPS has identified that would impact authorization of operations beyond 2012 include the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Park Service Organic Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Park Service regulations as set forth in Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations. In this legal context, the decision on a renewal of the Reservation of Use and Occupancy for Drakes Bay Oyster Company to continue to oper- 105

106 APPENDIX A ate in Point Reyes National Seashore is subject to the U.S. Wilderness Act (P.L. 88-577, Sep. 3, 1964), which defines Wilderness as follows: A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. An area of wilderness is further defined to mean in this Act an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions and which (1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least five thousand acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value. (16 U.S.C. 1131-1136, section 2©) Regarding prohibited and permitted uses of Wilderness areas, the Wilderness Act states: Except as specifically provided for in this Act, and subject to existing private rights, there shall be no commercial enterprise and no permanent road within any wilderness area designated by this Act and, except as necessary to meet minimum requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of this Act (including measures required in emer- gencies involving the health and safety of persons within the area), there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equip- ment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such area. (16 U.S.C. 1131-1136, section 4©) The Wilderness Act goes on to make special provisions regarding use: “the use of aircraft or motorboats, where these uses have already become established, may be permitted to continue subject to such restrictions as the Secretary of Agriculture deems desirable” (16 U.S.C. 1131-1136, sec- tion 4(d)(1)) and “[c]ommercial services may be performed within the wilderness areas designated by this Act to the extent necessary for activi- ties which are proper for realizing the recreational or other wilderness purposes of the areas” (16 U.S.C. 1131-1136, section 4(d)(6)). The Wilderness Act was amended as follows in the Point Reyes Wil- derness Act of 1976 (PL 94-544, Oct. 18, 1976):

APPENDIX A 107 SEC. 3. The area designated by this Act as wilderness shall be adminis- tered by the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Wilderness Act governing areas designated by that Act as wilderness areas, except that any reference in such provisions to the effective date of this Act, and, where appropriate, any reference to the Secretary of Agriculture, shall be deemed to be a reference to the Secre- tary of the Interior. SEC.4 (a) Amend the Act of September 13,1962 (76 Stat. 538), as amended (16 U.S.C. 459c-6a), as follows: In section 6(a) insert immediately after the words “shall be administered by the Secretary,“ the words “without impairment of its natural values, in a manner which provides for such recreational, educational, historic preservation, interpretation, and sci- entific research opportunities as are consistent with, based upon, and supportive of the maximum protection, restoration, and preservation of the natural environment within the area.” (PL 94-544, Oct. 18, 1976) At the request of the superintendent of the Point Reyes National Seashore and the regional administrator of NPS, the Office of the Solici- tor, San Francisco Field Office, in the Department of the Interior prepared memoranda on the status of Johnson Oyster Company (now DBOC) under the terms of sale of the property to NPS and the subsequent Potential Wil- derness designation of Drakes Estero under the Point Reyes Wilderness Act of 1976 (PL 94-544, Oct. 18, 1976). The memoranda are reproduced in their entirety on the following pages.

108 APPENDIX A

APPENDIX A 109

110 APPENDIX A

APPENDIX A 111

112 APPENDIX A

APPENDIX A 113

Next: Appendix B: Full Statement of Task »
Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California Get This Book
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When Drakes Estero, which lies within the Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) about 25 miles northwest of San Francisco, California, was designated by Congress in 1976 as Potential Wilderness, it contained a commercial shellfish mariculture operation. Oyster mariculture began in Drakes Estero with the introduction of the nonnative Pacific oyster in 1932, and has been conducted continuously from that date forward. Hence, the cultural history of oyster farming predates the designation of Point Reyes as a National Seashore in 1962.

Nevertheless, with the approach of the 2012 expiration date of the current National Park Service (NPS) Reservation of Use and Occupancy (RUO) and Special Use Permit (SUP) that allows Drakes Bay Oyster Company (DBOC) to operate within the estero, NPS has expressed concern over the scope and intensity of impacts of the shellfish culture operations on the estero's ecosystem. Public debate over whether scientific information justifies closing the oyster farm led to the request for this study to help clarify the scientific issues raised with regard to the shellfish mariculture activities in Drakes Estero.

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