NPS Halts Removal of the “Ungulate Berlin Wall” Built to Separate Elk and Local Ranches

In what is quickly becoming one of the most contentious 2-mile stretches in the country, the National Park Service agreed in court on Friday to halt the removal of the Point Reyes Seashore fence.  Originally built as a barrier to help local dairy farmers and ranchers, environmentalists have been going after it in an attempt to ‘free’ the estimated 300 tule elk that live inside the 8-foot tall enclosure.

The fence was installed back in 1978 and came under scrutiny by environmentalists after they referred to it as the ‘ungulate Berlin wall,’ claiming that the fence was responsible for dwindling population numbers of tule elk. Filing suit in 2021, last week the freedom fighters were under the impression that they had won as the National Park Service finally agreed to start dismantling the fence and freeing the elk trapped within its boundaries.

Their excitement, as it would turn out, was short lived after the California Cattleman’s Association and member ranches clapped back at them in court on Friday. In last week’s hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley agreed to halt the fence’s removal, which had started just three days prior. 

“That is actually absolutely the rational decision to make,” Corley told Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Keough. “I mean, that just makes complete sense in the circumstances.”

Ranchers and farmers, who operate on about 18,000 acres of leased land within the public park, were fearful of the effects the large ungulates would have on existing pastures, stored feed and other fences they relied on to control their own herds. The attorney representing the ranchers on the West Marin peninsula later expressed his contentment with the court’s ruling.

“We think it’s a good day,” attorney Peter Prows said. “And it tends to show that probably somebody at the Park Service realizes that, like the expression about asking for forgiveness instead of permission, they really should have proceeded in a more straightforward manner with this.”

Now with about 850 feet of open fencing still remaining, Prows and his team are asking that the NPS uphold their end of the agreement and return any and all elk that have since crossed out of the reserve.

“We’re just asking the Park Service to do what it had already decided to do,” Prows said. “The Park Service in 2021 didn't perceive a practical difficulty in returning any elk from the Tomales Point area that managed to get into the pastoral zone back to the Tomales Point area. And we're just asking that it stick with its decision.”

The judge, instead, chose not to rule on that, stating that the requested temporary restraining order pertained only to stopping the removal of the fence and not in returning any escaped elk. Despite the decision, environmentalists are still confident that they and the NPS can prevail in court. As more large-scale environmental groups join their cause, it sounds as though local ranchers and farmers might have won the fight thus far, but are still gearing up for a pending war.

With a gaping hole in the fence remaining, some groups are vowing to make every effort they can to push as many elk through it before the next hearing to consider a preliminary injunction is expected in mid-February.