Other Means to help the 12
The Point Reyes Story: Families Fighting for Their Land
For over 150 years, ranching families have cared for Point Reyes. Now a giant corporation is pushing them out. Here's what's really going on—and how we can fix it.
📖 What Is This All About?
Imagine your family had a farm for over 100 years. Your great-great-grandparents built it. You grew up there. Then one day, a huge company with billions of dollars says you have to leave—and they make you sign a paper saying you can't even talk about it. That's what's happening to the ranching families at Point Reyes.
🐮 The Ranchers' Story
Point Reyes is a beautiful piece of land on the California coast, about an hour north of San Francisco. For more than 150 years, ranching families have lived here. They raise cows for milk and beef. They take care of the land. Many families have been here for three, four, or even five generations.
These aren't strangers to the land—they are the land. The Kehoe family has been ranching here for 103 years. The Mendoza family since 1919. The Spaletta family since the 1870s.
When the government created Point Reyes National Seashore in 1962, it made a promise: The ranchers could stay. They sold their land to the government, but they got to keep farming it through long-term leases. The government said ranching and nature could live side by side.
That promise is now being broken.
📅 How We Got Here
⚠️ What Went Wrong
Here's what the ranchers faced:
- 🚫 No Public Hearings: The government made this decision in secret. No one got to vote or give their opinion.
- 🤐 Gag Orders: Ranchers had to sign papers saying they could NEVER talk about the deal. This is called a "non-disclosure agreement" or NDA.
- 💰 An $8 Billion Corporation: The Nature Conservancy has more money than the ranchers could ever imagine. They couldn't afford to fight back.
- 😰 Extreme Pressure: Their lawyer said the ranchers had "no choice" because of "massive amounts of pressure."
- ❌ No Congress Approval: Congress never said this was okay. The Park Service did it on their own.
🏢 Who Is The Nature Conservancy?
They call themselves a "non-profit," but look at these numbers:
Just because a company says "non-profit" doesn't mean they're the good guys. When a corporation with $8 billion forces families off land they've worked for 150 years—using secret deals and gag orders—that's not conservation. That's corporate bullying.
🌿 6 Environmental Myths They Want You to Believe
Some people think kicking out ranchers helps the environment. They're wrong. Here's the truth:
Nature is only "natural" when humans aren't there. Farming pollutes the wilderness.
Humans have been part of nature for thousands of years! Native Americans used fire to keep the land healthy. Ranchers do the same work today. When you remove humans, weeds take over and the land gets worse, not better.
When elk move to new areas, it's "natural." When ranchers dig ponds, it's "destruction."
Ranchers create ponds that frogs need to survive! Their cows keep the grass short, which helps birds and butterflies. The rancher's work is just as "natural" as the elk's—it's all part of how the land stays healthy.
Conservation means keeping everything exactly the same forever. Change is bad.
Nature is always changing! Trying to "freeze" it actually causes problems. Ranchers manage the land so it can handle droughts and storms. Unmanaged "wilderness" builds up fuel until it explodes in giant wildfires.
Domestic animals like cows hurt the land. Wild animals like elk help it.
Cows do the same job that ancient mammoths and bison used to do! They eat grass, fertilize the soil, and keep meadows open for birds. Without large animals grazing, the grasslands disappear. Cows aren't the problem—they're part of the solution!
Farming takes from nature. Farmers only care about money, not the environment.
A farmer who wants to give the land to their children has the BEST reason to protect it! They're the "eyes on the land" who notice problems first. They've been protecting the soil, water, and wildlife for generations. That's why the land is still beautiful after 150 years of ranching!
We can get our food and wood from somewhere else. It doesn't matter where it comes from.
When we stop growing food here, we have to ship it from far away. That means more trucks, more ships, and more pollution! We also force OTHER countries to destroy THEIR forests and farms to feed us. That's not saving the planet—that's just hiding the damage somewhere else.
📜 Two Laws to Fix This
Gregory Burgess has written two federal bills to bring the ranchers home and make sure this never happens again.
🏠 Federal Lands Stewardship and Human Sustenance Act
This bill says: "The ranchers can come home." It declares the secret 2025 deal void—that means it never happened. Ranchers get their leases back, and those gag orders are thrown out.
Right to Return
Any family pushed out can petition to get their lease back
20-Year Leases
Automatic renewal for families who take care of the land
No More Gag Orders
All those NDAs are cancelled—ranchers can speak freely
Fair Payment
Families who were hurt get money to help rebuild
🌾 Federal Lands Stewardship and Agricultural Resilience Act
This bill makes sure no corporation can ever do this again. It requires public hearings before any land use changes. It says Congress—not secret deals—decides what happens to public land.
Congress Decides
No more secret deals—only Congress can change land use
Public Hearings
Everyone gets to speak before big decisions are made
No Corporate Buyouts
Government can't take money from corporations to remove farmers
Family First
Small family farms get priority over big corporations
🛠️ How We Get the Ranchers Back
Sign the Petition
Add your name to demand Congressional hearings on what happened at Point Reyes.
Contact Congress
Tell your representatives to investigate The Nature Conservancy's role in this.
Demand Oversight
File complaints with the Department of Interior Inspector General.
Support the Bills
Help pass the Federal Lands Stewardship Acts to bring ranchers home.
Spread the Word
Share this story. Most people don't know what's happening. Tell them!
Elect Greg Burgess
Vote for a representative who has already written the laws to fix this.
🤔 Why Does This Matter to You?
If a giant corporation can push families off public land using secret deals and gag orders—with no public hearings, no vote, and no Congress approval—they can do it anywhere. Today it's Point Reyes ranchers. Tomorrow it could be your community. We have to stand up now, together, and say: This is not okay.
🐄 Stand With the Ranchers
150 years of family heritage. Erased by an $8 billion corporation. But it's not too late. Sign the petition. Support the bills. Bring them home.
Gregory Burgess
No Party Preference Candidate, California's 2nd Congressional District