The Paradox of Preservation: Wilderness and Working Landscapes at Point Reyes National Seashore

by Laura Alice Watt, David Lowenthal (Foreword)

Point Reyes National Seashore has a long history as a working landscape, with dairy and beef ranching, fishing, and oyster farming; yet, since 1962 it has also been managed as a National Seashore. The Paradox of Preservation chronicles how national ideals about what a park “ought to be” have developed over time and what happens when these ideals are implemented by the National Park Service (NPS) in its efforts to preserve places that are also lived-in landscapes. Using the conflict surrounding the closure of the Drakes Bay Oyster Company, Laura Alice Watt examines how NPS management policies and processes for land use and protection do not always reflect the needs and values of local residents. Instead, the resulting landscapes produced by the NPS represent a series of compromises between use and protection—and between the area’s historic pastoral character and a newer vision of wilderness. A fascinating and deeply researched book, The Paradox of Preservation will appeal to those studying environmental history, conservation, public lands, and cultural landscape management, and to those looking to learn more about the history of this dynamic California coastal region.

Genres: History

368 pages, Paperback

Published November 22, 2016

Reviews

[Laura Watt · Rating 5 out of 5]

it seems wrong to review my own book... but I want to address the issue of what this book is really about. The question it asks is, what happens to a working agricultural landscape once the idea of preservation is applied to it? This is NOT the same as asking whether agricultural use is "good" or "bad" for the environment -- the focus is on where our ideas about what parks "should" be or include come from, and how preserving anything, in an effort to keep it stable and constant over time, paradoxically changes it.

I have seen some suggestions, both here and elsewhere, that because the book does not include an analysis of the global cattle industry, or even of the environmental pros and cons (or the economic pros and cons, for that matter) of maintaining ranching at Point Reyes, that I am somehow biased as a scholar. I would like to counter that a) none of these types of analysis are within my particular realm of expertise, and b) these issues aren't central to the questions that I attempted to answer in this book. If not answering all possible questions about a place constitutes bias, then I do not see how ANY scholarly work could be unbiased?

Ultimately, if you are looking for a book that will answer your questions about the environmental impacts of ranching, this book is not for you -- that's not the question it's trying to address. If you are interested in parks management and preservation, and/or are interested in the history of landscape change at Point Reyes, and/or are interested in exploring ways to maintain both natural and cultural values in a protected area, then I hope you will check it out.

[Zach Bellay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I fell in love with West Marin going to Hog Island Oyster in Tomales Bay. My girlfriend and I took a trip up to Marin and happened into Point Reyes Books, and for some reason the story of the closure of Drakes Bay Oyster Company really drew me in, since I was such a fan of the oysters at Hog Island. It seemed wild to me to close an oyster company since I've generally understood oyster farming to only really be beneficial to the environment.

I was expecting the book to be mostly about Drakes Bay Oyster Company (DBOC), but actually was more of a history of Point Reyes and the National Park Service.

The villian of the story is the National Park Service, and the author advocates for allowing Point Reyes National Seashore by ranchers, dairy farmers, and the no longer existing Drakes Bay Oyster Company.

I think the author did a very good job of getting me on the side of the the ranchers, dairy farmers, and no longer existing DBOC.

The main point of the book is that the NPS believes in the "John Muir" vision of wilderness. Which is one absent of people, or any trace of them. But the reason PRNS is so beautiful is BECAUSE of the pasture lands maintained by ranchers/dairy farmers that makes it such a breathtaking place to begin with.

I think the author does a great job of helping illustrate how things like local vs federal management, environment vs industry do not cleanly fall into the traditional left/right dynamic. The author shows many cases of poor management and backstabbing/lying by the NPS. Some memorable ones being how the NPS artificially increased property values (and thereby property taxes) to try and get ranchers to sell, deliberately lying about the effects of the oyster farmers on seal breeding in order to get DBOC closed, taking so long to make a decision on whether or not to repurpose a home that was taken from an owner that by the time they made a decision a rare species of bat moved in so they no longer could do anything, or taking a beloved ranch from a long time multi-generational owner to put a bird preserve there only to take it and then not do anything with it.

I am convinced that the correct posture is to support the ranchers/dairy farmers since they are families that have a connection to the land, not multi-national companies doing industrial scale agriculture.

I think most people have a positive view of the NPS because we enjoy national parks, but I think this book does an excellent job of illustrating how federal management under a philosophy of ignoring local residents leads to a worse national park, and to worse outcomes for the people.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good historical and current info; helpful for my master's capstone project. But, I think it is a bit biased toward the Lunnys and the ranchers in general. The author does not mention environmental impacts of cattle ranching and only considers the impacts of oyster farm operations on harbor seals, without addressing impacts on aquatic organisms. The author provides a valuable point of view and a compelling vision for the future of Point Reyes, but undermines her credibility by neglecting to examine the environmental impacts of ranching and explore ways they could be mitigated.

[Mills College Library]

979.462 W345 2017