HR 1995, "Pt. Reyes National Seashore Farmland Protection Act" has picked up momentum in the House with 230 co-sponsors. The problem is Rep. Lynn Woolsey is misleading both Californians and her fellow Congressmen about its intent and its support.

The area in question is 38,000 acres surrounding the 71,000 acre Pt. Reyes National Seashore, north of San Francisco on Highway 1. This picturesque region consists of dairy, sheep and beef ranches, nursery crops, hay, silage & field crops, and vineyards that contributes millions to the economy and many jobs.

Promising to protect these private farmlands from non-agricultural develop-ment, HR 1995 (and the Senate companion bill, S 1372, sponsored by Sens. Boxer and Feinstein) would put productive farmlands into the National Seashore and the hands of the National Park Service. Rep. Woolsey assures Congress that she has the full support of the landowners and farmers in question. Well, they don’t think so!

Some 90 farm families, the CA Farm Bureau Federation, the 4 affected County Farm Bureaus, CA Cattlemen’s Assoc., and CA Wool Growers Assoc. have written letters and held meetings exhibiting their continued opposition. ALRA Executive Director, Chuck Cushman, participated in a strategy session with Citizens for Protecting Farmland (CPF), an organization formed to provide information and stop this Park expansion legislation. CPF held a "sign-waving" at Woolsey’s Santa Rosa office mid-August to show that her claims of local support are untrue.