Fallow Deer

Why does everyone assume white deer are albinos? Old Man Ottinger had a herd of fallow deer, they were leucistic, white against the moonlight. But the National Park Service came and killed them all. That was long after the murder. I was there the night the ranger was slain. I was camping illegally. I saw the poachers enter, heard the shots out near Limantour. Saw them leave. I was so afraid, I curled into the arms of the old pine. Fear was drumming a naked tattoo in my heart. A staccato of hooves on pavement. Blue Eyes is indeed beautiful. If she was albino, her eyes would be red. Maybe not so pretty then. Other images might come to mind. Then she could see between worlds when the poachers come.


An accidental prompt from June Hopper Hymass' blog
The Memory Thread,  At Dusk 
write a 10 to 12 line prose poem that tells a story and has some philosophy in it, too.

Last sunset of the year (photo)

 Last sunset of the year,2015,  the Farallones from Point Reyes

A macaw-colored sky. Last sunset of the year, 2015, floating islands of the Farallones from the tip of Point Reyes, The air was so clear, it looked like you could touch them. They're part of Point Reyes' lost siblings. Soon the Point will become an island too. Island moving north.

It was the day I killed my camera, all the photos I took on Dec. 31, 2015, came out too dark, and were loaded with sunspots. but this one, with a lot of doctoring, gaudy as it is, worked. It breaks the rules. Never divide a photo directly in half, it's too static (unless it's the Farallones). Don't shoot clichés like sunsets and islands (unless it's the Farallones). 

Don't shoot in low light sans tripod, avoid pixellation and noise. Image was loaded with burned sunspots from pointing it at the sun, burning the processor. I don't think it'll recover. I was able to clone the sunspots out of the sky. But not the pixellation. Spots before my eyes in more ways than one.

I left one sunspot in the lower left corner as a reminder. The upper left corner of the photo looked like a pong table gone mad. Who knew that reflected water off Schooner Creek after 4 PM on one of the shortest afternoon of the year, would completely fry my camera in multiple corners? 

Nothing to be done about the whacked light meter, though. Fritz is its middle name. So even if I can save some of the photos, the digital noise renders them useless. Luckily with this photo, it doesn't matter. But just look at that water. Lovely pixellation. Which made it even harder to clone the sunspots out of it. You can see several patch jobs.

I've fried other cameras before, and undoubtably will fry more cameras in the future, and since the sunspots are usually in the upper corners of the sky, I took to shooting pohotos upside down(the camera, not me) to avoid the sunspots. 

Damage control was not possible this time. I was so distressed I didn't even look at the photos until six months later—hence the late posting. Editing was a nightmare. So this is a salvage job, at best.

from a Facebook post
February 4, 2016

Johnson's Oyster Farm—aka—Drake's Bay Oyster Farm requiem

This was the place where I thoroughly fried my camera shooting a low winter sun over Schooner Creek (it was a Johnson's Oyster Farm—aka—Drake's Bay Oyster Farm homage and requiem). 

My camera lost its mind. You can see a few sunspots in this photo. But it was so outrageous, I shot several photos, each image added to the overall sunspottiness. Not only that, after these shots, the light meter also went south. Or maybe it was north. Everything was underexposed. Nearly black images. Hundreds of them. Not much to be done about it. Except cry.

It was a suck it up Buttercup kind of moment. I used to cry whenever my cameras died...Quivery-lipped, I buried the images in deep dark folders. I still haven't edited this batch...

The Farallones photo and comment were from an old Facebook post, that I rediscovered and revised. Hence the odd posting date.

Day of the Dead, All Soul's Day, The beginning and the end of the Celtic year. Halloween is always hard, my grandmother, brother and mother all died right before Samhain. So, Samhain, All Souls' Day, and El Dia de los Muertos is a three-fold sorrow.

Thinking of my mother who wanted me to scatter her ashes off the Golden Gate, to drift to the Farallones. Maybe I should get someone to sail me out there, and be done with it, give her back to the sea. Who has a boat?

See also
Tomales Bay Photo I managed to save a few photos from hundreds.

Oystergate: Drake's Bay Oyster Farm loses lease

"Clem Miller, a US Congressman from Marin County wrote and introduced the bill for the establishment of Point Reyes National Seashore in 1962 to protect the peninsula from residential development which was proposed at the time for the slopes above Drake's Bay. Miller's vision included the continuation of the historic ranching and oyster farming along with the preservation of the grasslands and open scenic vistas. The mix of commercial and recreational uses was the reason the area was designated a National Seashore rather than a National Park."

Schooner Bay, old Johnson's Oyster Point turnoff

I'm not sure if I agree with U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's decision to close historic Drake's Bay Oyster Farm on the Point Reyes National Seashore, in Northern California, in order to redistribute Drake's Estero "to the state of wilderness that Congress designated for it in 1976."

It seems that our local history has been suddenly rearranged to fit the needs of the present tense—with eco-justice warriors riding roughshod on our land, by changing the storyline.

(Map of Drake Estero and proposed wilderness.)

Salazar said, "I believe it is the right decision for Point Reyes National Seashore and for future generations who will enjoy this treasured landscape." Salazar also stated that:

The decision also ensures that, in keeping with the historic use of the land, existing sustainable ranching operations within the national park will continue.
In 1972, the National Park Service purchased the land that housed the oyster operation and the owner reserved a 40-year right to continue its activities through November 30, 2012. —Department of the Interior via Yubanet

Schooner Bay, Oyster Point turnoff

However, all is not how it sounds on paper. In a nutshell: Point Reyes rancher Kevin Lunny purchased the remainder of a 40-year lease on Johnson's historic oyster farm in 2005. Lunny maintained that the agreement he signed in 2005 held a renewal clause that was not accepted by the U.S. Department of the Interior. It specifically did not contain a non-renewable clause.

Salazar said that his decision is “fulfilling Congressional vision for wilderness.” This is in conflict with the original congressional intent of land use which sought to protect the livelihood of the ranchers.

Schooner Bay

It seems there's a massive conflict of interest here: a collusion of fuzzy science, outdated ecological impact reports, and politics—the elephant seal in the room that nobody's addressing. 

Point Reyes National Seashore was designated as a unit of the national park system by Congress in 1962 to protect more than 80 miles of California coastline. —Department of the Interior via Yubanet

[The oyster farm] existed before the creation of the seashore, the permit applies to an area that is within the pastoral zone—“created cooperatively by the federal government and ranchers in the 1960s to protect the land from development and also to continue the tradition of ranching”—not a potential wilderness area. ”—Point Reyes Light

Holding pond; Drake's Estero

Although relatively unmodified by human interventions, especially as compared to highly developed portions of San Francisco Bay, Drakes Estero is not a pristine coastal lagoon. p19 ...other activities in the Point Reyes National Seashore (ranches and recreational use), the ecosystem of Drakes Estero will be affected by both legacy effects of earlier human interventions and also ongoing human activities, even if the oyster farm were closed and all the associated equipment removed. p23 Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California, 2009

Salazar has singled out historic use of the land via mariculture. or sea-ranching—from ranching. To many folks, Drake's Bay Oyster Farm (DBOF—aka the old Johnson Oyster Farm) was viewed as a prime example of responsible stewardship. 

Lunny supporters and local businesses including Straus Family Creamery, seem to be in agreement that Lunny farmed oysters with integrity and cared for the environment. Lunny turned an ailing historic oyster farm into a clean, sustainable operation. Drake's Bay Oyster Farm attracts some 2.5 million visitors per year, and it's good for the economy—it brings in $85 million with its annual harvest of 460,000 lbs of oysters a year. Lunny claims that the National Park Service fabricated and misrepresented the scientific evidence

The National Park Service paints another darker picture—replete with old, bogus or skewed environmental studies, citing, for example an environmental report originally from New Jersey involving jet skis. . The National Academy of Science said the estero was healthier with the oysters. So, what's really going on here?

While NPS in all versions of Drake's Estero: A Sheltered Wilderness Estuary  (2006) accurately depicted the ecological significance and conservation value of Drake's Estero, in several instances the agency selectively presented, over-interpreted, or misrepresented the available scientific information on potential impacts of the oyster mariculture operation. Consequently, Drake's Estero: A Sheltered Wilderness Estuary did not present a rigorous and balanced synthesis of the mariculture impacts. Overall, the report gave an interpretation of the science that exaggerated the negative and overlooked potentially beneficial effects of the oyster culture operation. It appears that hasty responses to local stakeholder concerns by NPS led to the publication of inaccuracies and a subsequent series of retractions and clarifications during this process from 2007–2008, which cast doubt on the agency’s credibility and motivation. A lack of coordination among the multiple agencies regulating the mariculture operation also gave mixed messages to stakeholders, fueling the controversy.p71-3 Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California, 2009

According to today's KQED blog report, "Feinstein and the National Academy of Sciences claimed the National Park Service is trying to get rid of the oyster farm by exaggerating its negative impacts on the environment." 

Not only that, it seems that the NPS Environmental Impact report is fictitious and loaded with flawed science and the required 30-day public comment period required by law has been axed. 

The final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is due out any day, according to Rachel Jacobson, acting assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
The 30-day public comment period required by law will not have ended before November 30, the date the permit expires.
Secretary Salazar has the option of renewing the permit, however, with or without the EIS. His office said he expects to issue a decision next week.
Critics had called for a complete rewrite of draft EIS for a laundry list of reasons, citing scientific studies concluding the farm does no measurable harm to its natural surroundings and could, through adaptive management, continue to operate within a thriving ecosystem. —Point Reyes Light

One bone of contention may be that Lunny, like his oyster farm neighbors in Tomales Bay, expanded the oyster farm to include Manilla clams to make the business viable. But so did the Tomales bay oyster farms—so that can't be the reason.

Besides, the NPS is not in charge of fishing rights—the State of California is. When Johnson sold the lease in 2004, the oyster business was failing. Lunny revitalized it.

Lunny, who owns the historic "G" ranch lease, managed to turn the ailing oyster farm around. He schucked some serious oysters, and expanded the market to carry Drake's Bay Oysters in local grocery stores. DBOF is the last on-site shucking and packing facility in California.

The bivalve harvesting activities occur on about 1,000 acres of the estuary. DBOF, with a staff of 30 employees, operates the only on-site oyster canning facility in the state, and provides 40% of California's oysters. Or I should say: provided. Fukushima oysters, anyone?

Schooner Bay, Home Bay and Drake's Estero.

While some people don't think Lunny should've introduced Manila clam harvesting per se, I understand the concept of diversified farming. Tomales Bay oyster farms grow Manila clams too. BTW, those clams were originally exotic hitchhikers on the Pacific oyster shells during the 1930s, and someone discovered that they tasted good too. So Lunny didn't introduce them to the estero, but to the public.

After all, the oysters that are farmed in both Tomales Bay and Drake's Bay are non-native species. Most shellfish mariculture in the United States is based on non-native species, the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas), the Kumamoto oyster (Crassostrea sicamea), and the Manila clam (Venerupis [Ruditapes] philippinarum).

So are the reintroduced Roosevelt elk—the native species, long since extinct.

I would like to have seen the reintroduction of California's native Olympia oysters (Ostrea lurida). I know, that confusing. Olympia oysters? Yep. Seed oysterbeds are in trouble in Oregon, due to ocean acidification, so California may be their last stand. The shell mounds in the Coast Miwok midden near DBOC are mostly Olympia oysters.

According to Linda Murphy, "Five types of oysters are grown in North America: The Pacific (Japanese Miyagi oyster); Eastern or Atlantic; European; and Kumamoto." As well as green mussels and Manila clams.

Native Olympia oysters became functionally extinct in the San Francisco Bay Area due to overharvesting and then siltation during the Gold Rush, and from logging finished them off, but in the 1990s, a colony of native oysters, was discovered and is thriving at Point Richmond.

Unfortunately, voracious non-native snails (introduced by oyster farmers) are devouring California's only native oyster in Tomales Bay.

Reintroduced Tule elk.

However, oyster farming in the estero is a long-standing tradition that dates back more than a hundred years. When I was a kid, the shallows of both Tomales Bay and Drake's Estero were lined with "Indian fences" laden with oysters. Now

[Tomales and Drakes Bay] oyster farmers use the French rack-and-bag method of farming. The process begins when they buy seedlings from hatcheries and transplant the seeds, called spats, onto pieces of shell. The fingernail-size spats are raised in mesh cylinders in an aqua nursery until they are about an inch long, then are transferred to mesh bags and tethered to racks and cables in the water to grow to a size of three to four inches — an 18-month-long process. —Linda Murphy

(See a photo of DBOF racks.)

Here's an interesting dilemma: since the native Olympia oysters are no longer filtering Drake Estero waters, the non-native species of bi-valves are scrubbing the Estero—with five finger bays and only one opening to the sea—clean. Remove them, then what? Watch the Estero cloud up and die? Want to clean up an estuary, create super-filtration systems—oyster reefs—that's what they did at Chesapeake Bay.

BTW, removing the oysters will also negatively impact the eelgrass (Zostera marina)—which is dependent on their pseudo-poop for nourishment. Eelgrass worldwide is dying off—except that it grows in abundance in Drake Estero.

... filtration by the cultured oysters could provide additional benefits to eelgrass production by lowering turbidity and adding nutrients because these limit eelgrass distribution and production even in relatively oligotrophic estuaries (Carroll et al., 2008). Thus, sedimentary anoxia induced by DBOC shellfish is unlikely. p27 Oyster enhancement and oyster reef restoration is a major and expanding component of estuarine restoration throughout the United States P28 Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California 2009

Drake's Bay Oyster Farm was the last remaining oyster farm on the point. Lunny, who lost a five-year battle with the feds, wanted to extend his lease with the National Park Service for10 more years. Lunny had a legal right to ask for that extension-Congress, when it created the PRNS, stipulated that the farm leases were to be renewed.

Why is the NPS and Salazar singling out Lunny? Last I heard the Bureau of the Interior and the NPS were not in control of fishing rights in California. Something smells rotten in the state of ....

Oyster farming was an integral part of Marin history and will be deeply missed.

 "It's part of the history, the community and the tradition of a coastal community," Lunny said. "It's a national seashore where working landscapes, agriculture and farming were meant to co-exist."  —KQED

The lease expires on November 30, 2012. Lunny was given 90 days to dismantle his business.

Why I object: When I read several reports, I found that there were some shenanighans going on with either falsified, or vague catch-all ecological impact reports conducted on the eastern seaboard and then retailored to fir PRNS, then pressed into service, courtesy of the National Park Service, et al. It's a case of politics and science as corrupt bedfellows.

I've posted below some interesting articles on the ongoing battle between the Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) administered by the National Park Service (NPS) and the Drake's Bay Oyster Farm. Salazar's recent decision has made more than one rancher uneasy with their mercurial landlord, the NPS. Not if, but when will they be next on the chopping block?

The Interior secretary also has the power to lease the park's lands for dairy and cattle-ranching purposes. Currently there are 15 beef and dairy ranches operating along the Point Reyes seashore. Those ranches will remain open under the decision Thursday.
Oyster farm owner Kevin Lunny, whose family also operates one of the cattle ranches, said he was disappointed by the decision and was still trying to figure out his next move. He had been asking for a 10-year extension of his lease.
"This is going to be devastating to our families, our community and our county," Lunny said. "This is wrong beyond words in our opinion." —Sacramento Bee

Most of the news coverage has been biased towards developing a wilderness marine preserve—supported by the PRNS and the NPS (who are not necessarily the good guys in this case. I understand that, on paper it sounds fantastic. A marine preserve. But shooting the little guy is not the way to go about it. Nor is falsifying ecological reports.

It seems someone's tampered with data and offered blanket reports about the alleged destruction of eelgrass, hitchhiking non-native tunicates (Didemnum vexillum)—not due to human introduction, a non-native marsh snail (Batillaria attramentaria) (introduced by humans), and the possible introduction of invasive protozoan and microbial species (that could've arrived via the Roosevelt elk, cattle, or even someone's chickens)—and then there's the destruction of pinniped pupping habitat.

That is, the habitat of harbor seals—the most common and widely distributed species of the pinnipeds; yes, they are a protected, but hardly an endangered species, nor is Drake's Bay their only pupping grounds.)

...negative interactions between oyster harvest and seal attendance at these subsites do not provide a causal link." p43  None of the scientific research projects within Drakes Estero was designed specifically to assess whether the oyster farm operations were impacting the local harbor seal population..." p47 Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California 2009

But a voracious wayward elephant seal swam into the estero and chomped his way through 40 harbor seals—before they fled the crimes cene.

The invasive species in question is a common tunicate that lives on hard substrate like oyster shells—not on the soft bottom of Drakes Estero—and one that scientists have said will do little damage to marine resources; the eelgrass has in fact doubled over the last several years.

…The multiple federally funded studies conducted in recent years have resoundingly exonerated the oyster farm of environmental harm. —Point Reyes Light

 I won't mention the recent introduction of the non-native snail into Tomales Bay that's drilling the life out of the native Olympia oysters. But the feds are not shutting them down.

Senator Feinstein pointed out that DBOF should be saved because it is a key part of the local rural economy. "The National Park Service's review process has been flawed from the beginning with false and misleading science," she said. We need to support responsible and sustainable farms, and grassroots businesses, not shut them down!

"Drake's Estero and the Point Reyes National Seashore have significant existence, option, and bequest value as protected environmental resources. It is likely that the presence of oyster farming in Drakes Estero has a marginal negative effect on the non-use values of the estero. P66 Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California 2009

PRNS and the NPS have not been traditionally viewed as a good neighbor by many West Marinites. More like a big bully, than a big brother. When the PRNS was first proposed, ranchers were assured of a right to their livelihood via renewable leases. Many ranchers felt that it was either take the offered leases, or hit the road.

Tomales Bay Association sent a letter to Secretary Salazar reiterating those points. Noting that the group existed before the creation of the seashore, the authors emphasized that the permit applies to an area that is within the pastoral zone—“created cooperatively by the federal government and ranchers in the 1960s to protect the land from development and also to continue the tradition of ranching”—not a potential wilderness area. “Simply put, the continued operation of the oyster farm will promote the preservation of cultural heritage that has been part of the area for many generations.”—Point Reyes Light

Schooner Bay and Creamery Bay.

So ranchers accepted the NPS leases, rather than be displaced from their traditional lands. Maybe they should've fought harder for better leases, but when they were up against the federal government, many cowped, then folded. Some fought to keep their land and won. Most did not. Drake's Bay Oyster Farm, the last of its kind, operated on one of those original leases. Lunny wanted to extend his remaining lease 10 more years.

Drake's Bay from Point Reyes.

Outsiders just see the grandeur of the magnificent PRNS park, and know nothing of the countless families and small farms it displaced. What most people don't realize is that the NPS irrevocably changed our lives in West Marin when it created the PRNS—and not necessarily for the better.

The federal government will not ensure employment for those who've lost their livelihood at the development of the PRNS preserve. They didn't do it in the past. Salazar's recent DBOF decision will displace some 35 families, and their homes will be razed.

At least Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) tries to ensure that ranches and dairies can continue to be viable and operate in West Marin, thus preserving them. We need a more sensible approach to land stewardship along the Point Reyes Peninsula that includes and supports local farming endeavors—whether by land or by sea. Not a stewardship comprised of of outside politics and vested interests dressed in fabricated ecological raiments.

Schooner Creek, historic "G" Ranch.

Cicero said, Nature abhors annihilation. This closure is the annihilation of right livelihood. DPOF is the last remnant of an older way of life on the Point—and it has been found in violation of variable and often contradictory NPS statutes.

The NPS is often found in direct violation of its own statutes too. Power wielded by the beholder swinging a very big stick. I suspect that if the NPS wanted to oust some of the cattle ranchers on the point, they'd utilize the same statutes to void their leases. In other words, we don't trust the NPS to play fair.

(Here's a map of the power structure of the federal, state and local govenrnment agencies that Lunny has had to deal with.

Why I wrote this blog was because someone asked me what the local angle was. I admit that I'm biased—I have a vested interest in that I witnessed the transition of Point Reyes from traditional ranches, to that of an urban playground.

Overnight, our bucolic landscape was changed from viable dairies to a bizarre weekend warrior's retreat. Sir Francis Drake Boulevard became a parking lot Saturdays and Sundays. Traffic jams in the middle of nowhere.

Nothing says wilderness quite like hiking alone on a ridge trail only to get run over by a mad mountain biker freewheeling at 40 MPH.

Drake's Beach looking toward Limantour Spit.

I also admit that when the historic moment to turn the point into a national park in 1962, it was exciting. I saw the Air Force One helicopter fly overhead, with Ladybird Johnson enroute, to open the new park at Drake's Beach. But we locals weren't invited to the party. In fact, the Secret Service, practically closed off all the roads. So yes, I have mixed feelings on the decision to close the last remaining oyster farm at Drake's Estero.

Drake's Beach looking toward Pt. Reyes.

I suggest that you check out the weekly, the Point Reyes Light, that won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism,  as it offers an alternative perspective to the idiotic one-sided ranting of the East Bay Express looking for another Oystergate in all the wrong places.

As I write this piece, I am reminded of a Nigerian saying. I am tempted to update it to: When two bull elephant seals fight, it's the eelgrass that loses.

FURTHER READING: Point Reyes Light
Salazar chooses to close Drakes Bay Oyster Company
Salazar visit provokes old and new arguments

Feds Deny Oyster Farm Lease Renewal | KQED News Fix

Drakes Bay Oyster Company Permit to Expire
Salazar pays visit to Point Reyes

From Straus Family Creamery—Please help support a small family farm and sign this petition to preserve Drake's Bay Oyster Farm

 Drakes Bay Oyster Company - Sustainable, environmentally friendly farming. Inverness, Marin County

 More information at http://www.drakesbayoyster.com

Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California 2009 study: "The presence and biological activities of cultured oysters in Drakes Estero results in locally enhanced filtration of the water column and deposition of feces and pseudofeces onto the bottom. One study was conducted in which sediment cores were taken in eelgrass as a function of distance away from oyster culture racks in Drakes Estero and also in nearby Estero de Limantour, which lacks oyster culture. No enhancement of sediment organics and no reduction in oxygen content of sediments were detectable near the culture racks or in Drakes Estero as compared to Estero de Limantour, indicating a lack of detectable negative impacts of oyster biodeposition, probably because of relatively low oyster stocking densities and high tidal flushing, which disperses the deposits. Limited water quality sampling did not demonstrate elevated levels of nutrients." p67. Report published by the National Academies Press (NAP) created by the National Academies to publish the reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council, all operating under a charter granted by the Congress of the United States.

Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar: Renew the lease for Drakes Bay Oyster Company

Feds deny oyster farm lease renewal in California

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/29/5018900/ap-newsbreak-feds-deny-oyster.html#storylink=cpy

East Bay Express 

Dianne Feinstein's War | Feature | Oakland, Berkeley & Bay Area News & Arts Coverage

Drakes Bay Oyster Company Is Still Illegal | Eco Watch | The Bay Area Environment Column

Great synopsis in the WSJ by Michael Moritz: Welcome to the Salazar Wilderness—Shame on the Interior Department for trying to drum a family-owned enterprise out of business.

There's a great list of even more coverage posted at Bay Area Open Space Council's blog. Check it out. This blog made the list.

GET INVOLVED:

Sign Save Drake's bay Oyster Farm Petition
"The Drakes Bay Oyster Farm is a small, family run business employing 30 people providing fresh oysters to the San Francisco Bay Area restaurants and individual. Oyster farming has been going on in Drakes Bay for over 80 years and the oysters produced are some of the finest you will ever taste. Reversing this decision will allow this family business to continue to prosper and provide these great oysters to enjoy."

You'll need to create a White House email account in order to sign this petition. it needs 21,553 more signatures—please sign it. Don't let Big BullyBro (The National Park Service) illegally (they lied, falsified reports) to oust the Lunnys 30 more families employed at the DBOF—thus making them homeless, BTW! DBOF supplies 40% of CA's oysters. But it's not about the oysters as much as it is about the sanctioned illegal activities of the NPS and PRNS.

LIKE Drake's Bay Oyster Farm on Facebook

CALL: Howard Dillon in Bolinas has been encouraging people to call Steve Kinsey, West Marin county supervisor, to protest the decision: (415) 499-7331  

See Dispelling the Myths about the Drakes Bay Oyster Company conflict

Note bene: In case you're wondering what's in it for me—I write in order to learn what the real story, or what the backstory is. It seems there's another backstory that was not addressed by the media. The story of local people vs the NPS. Sort of like Pilgrims vs. Native Americans. Understand that it's an opinion piece, hopefully an informed one. And hopefully this blog has painted a broader picture of the problem. I will continue to revise as facts are uncovered so check back again. And thanks for reading this blog.—MH

Ken Salazar stepping down as Interior secretary

Judge upholds eviction of Drake's Bay oyster farm Looks like Ken Salazar and the NPS-PRNS dirty politics won after all.

Lunny continues legal fight to halt shut down Point Reyes oyster farm

Bringing Oysters Back to the SF Bay

Recycled oyster shells provide boost to ecosystem

You also might want to check out my blog entry on the demise of Marin dairies: 
Marin's Pastures of Plenty

White Deer

My grandmother and I used to traipse along Inverness Ridge each fall to pick huckleberries, and for a glimpse of Old Man Ottenger’s exotic white deer and the spotted fallow deer; but the National Park Service took the land from them, parcel by parcel—destroying most of the dairy ranches in the process.

The NPS gave the land to the public, tore down historic farm buildings, killed off the exotic deer: non-native species. If the alternative was a future of tract-housing, then they did a good thing, taking the land, but what they destroyed in the process was a thriving community of farmers and ranchers—for the greater good of tourists and their easy dollars.

But most of this land commuting northward at 2 inches a year along the Fault, is so far from civilization that its isolation is its salvation and its reward.

Trigger-points of memory: a certain angle of light reposes on the blood-red roses splayed against the limed wall of an abandoned farm. A bleached redwood wine vat holds the music of spring water plashing into the mossy trough where cattle and deer come to slake their thirst at sunset. Generations of barn swallows sip and weave the air into arabesques. No one wants to look at the moral dilemma: ranchers—treated like the Coast Miwoks their forefathers displaced—offered land treaties in the form of 25-year leases. Polyester tourists, also a non-native species. Rarer now to see the white deer.

Once while rough camping, I saw a big white buck in the night mist—an otherworld apparition of white on white—his antlers tining the haloed moon. But another kind of darkness hid in the pale Albion moonlight.

A sudden chill, a premonition drove me deep into the arms of pine boughs as truck lights severed the darkness. The silhouettes of two men illumined by red tail lights filled me with unseasonable fear. . I heard shots. Saw them leave. I was so afraid, I curled into the arms of the old pine and shook with fear.

At Limantour Spit death’s admiral was waiting in the staccato report of poachers’ guns—like Chinese firecrackers—the night they shot Ranger Kenneth Patrick for the rare white deer hides. Like the dried penises of white tigers, the deerskins were destined to be sold as aphrodisiacs and for healing magic to the highest bidder in the black markets of China.

© 1997 revised 2000 Maureen Hurley

BE ONE MILE

Be one mile above your home 

dreaming of a time when childhood 

held the meaning of magic. 

Hopefully there, you'll become 

part of the memory.

Be one mile above the coastal ridges 

where you were conceived, 

on Mount Tamalpais's body at sunset, 

after the wedding. 

Remember there are no accidents.

Be one mile north of your heart.
Watch its struggle, 

necessary growth requires the shedding of pain. 

Layer by layer, 

onion tears to cleanse the wound 

of the father and the mother.

Be one mile above Forest Knolls, 

the hill your family's owned a hundred years, 

the big rock like a phallus jotting out, 

the ravines, his legs. 

your house at his feet
if Mount Tam is a woman 

then surely this ridge is a man.
This is the way of things.

Be above the road that leads you home, 

named after an English pirate.
Remember how the Estero 

uncovered the old wood, the square nails, 

and you dreamed this was part of his legacy.

Yes, the plaque was fake.
But the idea of Nova Albion 

and the ache of those white cliffs 

seeking the cadence of speech with the sea's voice.

It told you of other stories:
How the Miwoks dressed in fine embroidered silk 

and ate shellfish from the Chinese blue bowls.

When a trader ship foundered on the craggy shores, 
Point Reyes was the foggiest place in America, 
but all you can remember is the sun 
christening this island in time. 
The point of the three Kings, Little Christmas.

Be one mile above Creamery Bay and Home Bay.
Be one mile above the sunken valleys 
where you want to skim across their surface
in bidarkas. Perhaps the Russians already did this,
but where you were raised is rich in sea nurseries 
on an otherwise inhospitable coast. 

Hover above the wild purple irises in spring 
and remember you carry this place within you always, 
that it wasn't a sin to be born here, 
not knowing the concept of beauty until you left in exile,
expelled from the garden by those with more money.
For, in your dreams, beauty walks before you 
in these wild coastal hills that you call home, 
having called this place home for ages untold.

12/4/1995

WILDCAT BEACH, BELTAINE 5/5/89

Wildcat Beach, Beltaine Silk & dye.

WILDCAT BEACH, BELTAINE

                                — for my students Nat & Erik

At Wildcat Beach I fill pockets with wax opals,

agates and moonstones—pieces of the fallen moon.

Five vultures wheel in a bright sky vibrating

against ruddy cliffs. The ocean eats the strand,

the night eats the sun. We lose track of time.

I point out equus, horsetail fern, ancestor of trees

when the dinosaurs were young. I despair:

so little time to teach the children about life cycles.

I yell at those who want to quit right in the middle of the road—

Five miles is forever. I feel like an ogre yelling at them.

Coddling won't do. No, that’s not it. I was never coddled.

So I tousle their heads, repack packs, clean skinned knees,

offer advice, feed them chocolate—these children I never had—

I am mother without being mother, father without having had one.

It's always a longer walk back, no matter what they say.

I am teacher. I am poet incanting words into true air.

We make a medicine wheel, divide into the four elements,

and writie poetry to the cardinal directions.

One crow commuting up the beach nods to me in flight.

On this side of the San Andreas Fault,

I come to understand the rest is illusion:

Those old generals who set the Gulf ablaze with oil

their dreams are cursed by flames of blue eels

writhing in shallow pools. Fire over water.

I dreamed Easter Island was a mathematical equation of the mind.

Two boys and I sit on the bluffs talking of neutron stars

and the desire for a simple life filled with ritual.

We watch a bonfire blaze on the opposite shore.

Nat says everything has a spirit—even that lupine bush.

They restore my faith, like the white deer who browse

beneath the stars. Recognizing an absence of ritual

in our lives, we seek something unbidden in the moonlight,

in the water and in the ancient eyes of fish.

5/5/89

MOONSTONES

MOONSTONES

   —to my poetry students

Last night, the same crow 

was commuting up the beach 

headed north, towards wisdom, towards light. 

The idea of a waterfall at the end 

of the mind made sense. 

Lupine and mustard cloak the hillsides.

We sit in a circle, divided by the four directions. 

The sun breaks through the fog like laughter, 

a cacophany of birds. Someone smiles. 

The rocks rise like an island of thought  

shipping the darkness out to sea 

while a student takes small pieces of light—

silver oxide and shadow. 

Mirrors of ourselves on film, in the water. 

The wind fluxes the pond, knitting small ripples,  

something to wear for the day's dance.

So much water in the ocean,

in the air, in us. The sea is our mother. 

I wanted moonstones and found none. 

And then at my feet, the purest white ones I'd ever seen. 

Katie asks why they're called that. I don't know 

Maybe it's because the moon would like to visit us 

right here on this beach, t

his island commuting north to Alaska.

Where the moon feels at home, 

 where tundra flowers dance in summer breezes

where, in winter, mice tunnel under the mystery of snow, 

and darkness takes its own time being born into light.

5/5//89

Wildcat Beach, Beltaine

I accompanied Mark West school teacher, Gerry Crawford, on their annual 5th grade outdoor ed class. The poetry was flowing through me at such a rate, I could barely write it all down.

see later version

WILDCAT BEACH, BELTAINE 5/5/89

Letters to Wm Poole
(somewhere on The San Andreas Fault) May 1989

some line break chances 

ascii hell in progress

THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR

THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR

Below us, the fog lake rises
on the slopes of Gilliam Ridge.
It wells up and boils over like milk
and flows down the sides in a slow dance,
bathing the trees with dew and moisture.
The peaks of the Cedars and  Red Slide
juts out of angular winter shadow
like pyramids catching the sun.

Below us, hikers climb out of the ravines
of Austin Creek Park
and a chainsaw buzzes.
a woodpecker calls to her mate,
and somewhere, far off, a lamb bleats for its mother.

Somewhere, to the south, near Point Reyes
a killer is stalking.
The sunshine is so warm.
we take off our woolen clothing.
Our bare skin and feet stroked by the glow
of winter sunlight.
Our eyes grow heavy with sleep.

The body of fog, like fur on dogshit, rolls towards us,
and three ravens slice across its surface
making their own kind of offering to the land.
The sun, in the southernmost acre of the sky,
needs no-blood, no bonfires
to bring it back from winter solstice.

I hear the ticking of the clock.
The ticking of the clock...
I repeat a line from one of my earlier poems.
I learn to settle down  like a cat among lines
of my own choosing.
They keep coming back to haunt me
like those nameless faces
of the murdered women of Point Reyes.

A roaring sound is heard.
Does the fog roar through trees as it passes through?

Winter Solstice
1980

One of the few poems of 1980 that I actually dated. There's also a reference to the Trailside Killer,  this is one version. I can't find a decent copy of the other version. Added 11/16 minor revisions & line breaks. There's also a prose version, probably a first draft for this poem, Winter Solstice, 1980.

SEVEN FOR WALLACE STEVENS

SEVEN FOR WALLACE STEVENS  
       —for Ranger Kenneth Patrick slain August 5, 1973

I. Over high mountain passes
Clouds crawl over the forest.
The forest pierces into the flesh
Of their soft underbellies.

II. Deer hide in the mist-filled trees
Waiting for the storm to pass.

III. Underbellies of deer are white clouds
Brushing the tops of dry summer grasses
Growing along the mountain flanks.

 IV. In spring, snowflakes
Rest on the backs of fawns
And lasts until the chill of autumn
Thickens their coats.

V.   In winter, the sun dips into darkness.
The earth becomes barren.
The coats of the deer turn grey.

VI. Like a fawn, death itself 

Is moving slowly
Through the tall grass.

VII. The winter sun illumines
The red-tipped ears of deer
And fawns shake the snow
From their coats.

Limantour Spit, 1980
rev. 12.81?

1982 Ridge Review

Another ascii-filled poem saved from old school Appleworks. At least I had the sense to capitalize the lines so it was easy to restore. I forgot how much I like this poem.
I used to calligraph my poems. No typewriter.