Reintroduced tule elk compete with cattle on Point Reyes

The 700-pound tule elk’s antlers jutted upward against the backdrop of the sloping, grassy hills and brilliant blue sea along the Point Reyes National Seashore, a magnificent symbol of both conservation success and human-wildlife conflict. The bull was one of dozens of free-roaming tule elk spotted one recent day enjoying the bucolic Point Reyes peninsula. Their presence on the sweeping hillside pastures represents the convergence of two great Marin County success stories — the preservation of historic agricultural land and the reintroduction of a native species once thought to be extinct. But there isn’t much celebrating going on in the picturesque hills, where elk can regularly be seen loping proudly through pastures that seven organic dairies use for their cattle. The wild elk and domestic cows simply do not mix, according to the ranchers who lease the fields from the National Park Service, which administers 28,000 acres of agricultural land in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes seashore. The ranchers say the competition from the elk for scarce vegetation threatens their very existence after three years of drought. “There is plenty of room for elk, but not on the pastoral land,” said Stacy Carlsen, the Marin County agricultural commissioner who is urging the Park Service to capture and remove the 76 elk that were recently counted in the area and build a large fence to keep them out. “Elk and livestock are just not compatible. The ranchers don't want elk to compete with livestock on their property.” It is a conflict that pits two almost sacred Bay Area environmental concepts — sustainable organic farming and native wildlife conservation — against one another...more