Wilderness or farming?

Visitors to the Point Reyes National Seashore might drive right by the Drake's Bay Oyster Co. if it weren't for a small sign at the end of a long gravel road along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. Hidden from the road behind rolling rangeland on the pristine seashore, the family-run oyster farm was once known only to locals and seafood buyers who relished the oysters farmed in Drake's Bay next to a kayak launching point. But now the oyster farm is embroiled in a bitter public dispute that has pitted environmentalist against environmentalist, scientist against scientist, and a U.S. senator against the National Park Service. The fight has spawned petition drives and "Save Drake's Bay Oyster Farm" T-shirts. At issue is whether the more than 70-year-old farm should be allowed to continue operating after its federal lease expires in 2012. Officials with the National Park Service and several environmental groups say the farm harms the local ecosystem and its area of operation should return to wilderness status. The 1,100-acre farm and nearby cattle and dairy ranches were allowed to continue operating when the Point Reyes National Seashore was established in 1960. But when Congress passed the Point Reyes Wilderness Act in 1976, Drake's Bay – also known as Drake's Estero – was designated "potential wilderness." The farm was granted a special federal lease to continue operation until 2012. The lease is renewable...SacramentoBee