This year is the 50th anniversary of the signing of legislation which saved Point Reyes National Seashore from becoming a relentless series of subdivisions, marinas and developments.
The story of how former Marin County Supervisor Peter Behr, Katy Miller (widow of Congressman Clem Miller), Bill Duddleson, Congressman Pete McCloskey, Marin County planner Margaret Azevedo and many others convinced President Richard Nixon to allocate the funds necessary to complete the Seashore is not only of interest from a historical perspective, but also has lessons for modern conservation battles.
The National Park Service originally recommended inclusion of Point Reyes in the National Park System in the 1930s. Caroline Livermore and the Marin Conservation League supported the idea. It was championed by Marin conservationist Roger Kent and Congressman Miller. Formally proposed by the National Park Service in 1959, it was authorized in legislation signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1962.
The park service began purchasing land for the Seashore. By the late 1960s it had acquired land from Olema to near Lake Ranch — land surrounding Drake’s Estero, land near Bolinas and some scattered parcels at the Outer Point and Pierce Point.
But it was obvious that existing funding would be woefully insufficient to complete the planned acquisitions. Less than half the land had been acquired, and only a third of the precious shoreline. Logging was proceeding on private parcels and developers were creating subdivisions, especially at privately held Limantour.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund (with revenue derived from off-shore oil sales) was traditionally used for national park acquisitions, but Nixon proposed to cut it 40%.
The park service wanted to sell off 14 square miles of the existing parkland for subdivisions and commercial use. This proposal horrified Katy Miller and Duddleson, a former aide to Congressman Miller. It galvanized them into action.
Katy Miller convinced Behr to take on saving Point Reyes. He led the Save Our Seashore campaign and provided much of the political strategy. Azevedo led a petition campaign that gathered nearly 500,000 signatures asking Nixon to purchase the rest.
Miller used Congressional connections to get help from highly influential members of Congress like Wayne Aspinall, Bizz Johnson and Sen. Alan Bible.
McCloskey of San Mateo was a good friend of John Ehrlichman, an environmental attorney serving Nixon as chief of domestic affairs. During a commute in a presidential limo, McCloskey urged Ehrlichman to save Point Reyes.
Ehrlichman said that it was a key meeting with Behr that convinced him (along with the petitions, politics and pressure from members of the California congressional delegation) to urge Nixon to budget the funding necessary to save the Seashore, and also to restore the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The politics were critical. Nixon wanted to look more environmental in preparation for the 1972 election. Sen. George Murphy, up for re-election, wanted credit for saving Point Reyes. Politics made it possible for Nixon to save the Seashore.
If this effort had failed, Point Reyes would probably look like Sea Ranch, at best; Huntington Beach at worst.
Behr later became a state senator and led the fight to create the California Wild and Scenic Rivers System, saving the North Coast Rivers from dam builders. He also forced legislative committees to start taking recorded votes on bills. I believe Behr should be honored for his contributions.
Perhaps the greatest lesson that can be learned from this fight is that key individuals (Katy Miller, Duddleson and Behr) decided to take decisive action. A combination of grassroots action and high-level political contact followed.
These tactics worked in such efforts as creation of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the salvation of the Tuolumne River from dam builders. With any luck, I hope it will work again in fighting climate change.
As a grad student at Cal in 1969, Jerry Meral assisted Peter Behr in mobilizing funds and public support using Phil Hyde’s poster of Point Reyes in the Save Our Seashore campaign. Meral lives in Inverness.
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November 01, 2020 at 01:49AM
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Marin Voice: 50 years later, story of Point Reyes legislation inspires activism - Marin Independent Journal
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