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James Li@5149jamesli · Mar 4, 2025

🚨 Gavin Newsom & his allies just forced 12 historic family farms & dairies out of Point Reyes National…

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Summary

Governor Newsom and environmental groups forced 12 family farms and dairies out of Point Reyes National Seashore in California despite a 60-year promise allowing ranching, replacing them with contracted grazing operations. The ranchers received a $30M payout but were silenced under gag orders, raising questions about whether the deal prioritized conservation or political interests.

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  1. #1

    🚨 Gavin Newsom & his allies just forced 12 historic family farms & dairies out of Point Reyes National Seashore in California. They claim it’s about saving the environment — but the truth couldn't be more different. Here is the true story — and it's heartbreaking. ⬇️🧵1/

  2. #2

    2/ For over 100 years, ranchers and dairy farmers have worked the land at Point Reyes. They built Marin’s organic food movement & supplied fresh milk to Californians. Now they’re being forced out — by environmental groups, the federal government, and Newsom’s political allies.

  3. #3

    3/ When Congress created Point Reyes National Seashore in 1962, ranchers voluntarily sold their land to the federal government under one condition: they could keep ranching. That promise lasted 60 years — until powerful environmental groups decided to change the rules.

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    4/ In 2022, three environmental groups — Resource Renewal Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, and Western Watersheds Project sued the National Park Service to block 20-year ranching leases. The lawsuit set off a chain reaction that led to ranchers losing everything.

  5. #5

    5/ At first, the National Park Service defended the ranchers. But then The Nature Conservancy — a billion-dollar “nonprofit” with deep political ties to Newsom —stepped in to negotiate a secret deal. The result? A $30M payout to ranchers who had no real choice but to leave.

  6. #6

    6/ The $30M payout might sound like a lot — until you realize it’s being split across multiple families and businesses. "You don't want to see the book closed," said rancher Jarrod Mendoza, whose great-grandfather acquired the family’s land in 1919.

  7. #7

    7/ Mendoza needs financing to rebuild his family’s barn, which was destroyed in a storm. But thanks to the park’s refusal to grant long-term leases, he couldn’t get a loan. Now, he’s being forced off his land altogether — along with 11 other ranching families.

  8. #8

    8/ Worse? The farmers were placed under a strict gag order — they legally cannot tell the public how this deal really went down. Begs the question: if this was such a fair outcome, why was it done behind closed doors? Why are the ranchers being silenced? 🤔

  9. #9

    9/ And here’s where Biden & Trump come in: - In 2019, Trump signed an executive order to protect farming in national parks. - In 2021, Biden reversed it. The final deal was reached in early January 2025, just weeks before Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2025.

  10. #10

    10/ Who brokered the deal? Rep. Jared Huffman, who represents Point Reyes. Before Congress, he was an attorney for the NRDC, a powerful environmental lobbying group. So was he negotiating for his constituents — or for the same activists who wanted the ranchers gone?

  11. #11

    11/ But this isn’t about protecting nature — it’s about business, politics, and ideology. The Park Service now admits it will have to hire private grazing contractors to manage the land and reduce wildfire risk. So cattle can stay — just not the families who raised them.

  12. #12

    12/ Environmental groups sold this as a win for conservation. But the reality? It was a quiet land transfer — one that just happened to benefit some of the most politically connected non-profits in the country. And once these farms are gone, they’re gone forever.