Here’s what we’ve got between the covers this week. Tom Gogola wades into the Point Reyes Seashore elk debate, recently rekindled by Rep. Jared Huffman’s pro-ag stance on the matter. Tom also has a story about Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle company Goop and the trouble it got into for misrepresenting what the company’s vaginal inserts can do for the fairer sex. Movie times and reviews are back. We’ve got trivia, a review of the soft opening of the new William Tell House in Tomales and a lot more where that came from. Have a look.
—Stett Holbrook, editor
Your article on the Point Reyes controversy was one sided in favor of Rep Huffman. I’m sure he counts himself an “environmentalist”, but he’s no different from conservative Republican members of Congress in Utah, Wyoming, Montana, or Idaho who look out for their mining, ranching and hunting interests near national parks. Point Reyes is one of the most beautiful seaside landscapes in the world and could be a large preserve for bear, elk, coyote, bobcat, mountain lion and other large mammals. Instead, we have industrial sized dairy operations in a county with thousands of acres outside Point Reyes already dedicated to dairy farming. I visit Point Reyes over 20 times per year, and often you can easily see barren muddy fields denuded by overgrazing, and very limited ground cover for wild animals and birds. Just like the Congressman in Idaho who supports hunting wolves and grizzlies, or the Congressman in Montana who supports coal mining and oil drilling near National Parks, Rep Huffman can represent his constituents in West Marin by supporting the dairy farms on priceless outdoor real estate, but he can’t claim to be an “environmentalist” at the same time, or he’s being a hypocrite. Environmental protection involves sacrifice and economic pain, and Rep Huffman has decided that shouldn’t happen in Point Reyes. And I’m sure there are lots of “environmental” groups who will go along with it, while gladly inflicting economic pain on farmers and ranchers who want the same preferential treatment in other parts of the West.
Murray– thanks for your comment. We’ll run it as a letter to the editor in print version of the Pac Sun next week. There’s a followup in today’s paper now that the Huffman bill has passed the House.