Republicans in Congress began an investigation on Thursday on a conciliation agreement that will require 12 of the 14 ranches and dairy products that operate at the point of Kings National Seashore to stop operating at the beginning of 2026.
The Natural Resources Committee of the House of Representatives sent letters to Nature Conservancy and four other environmental organizations, all of which were parts of the agreement, seeking detailed information. The committee is headed by Bruce Westerman, a republican from Arkansas. The letters were signed by six other republican members of Congress.
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The letter to Nature Conservancy declared: “The committee is concerned not only with the lack of transparency around the agreement, but also for the environmental and legal consequences that the agreement can impose.”
The other organizations sent to the letters were the Fairfax headquarters Renewal Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Wedsheds project and defenders of the West.
Representative Jared Huffman, who is the Classification Democrat in the Committee, said he stood out before the letter was sent on Thursday. The San Rafael legislator said that, since the Department of the Interior was also part of the agreement, it could have done so by the Trump administration.
“If the parks service, and this is the Trump administration parks service, wanted to revoke this or fly it,” said Huffman, “could.”
As part of the agreement, environmental organizations agreed to eliminate a demand that defies the continuous use of the park for agriculture in exchange for the parks service that denies the new leases of agricultural operators.
The owners of the ranches and the dairy was paid an amount not revealed by Nature Conservancy, and did not have to reveal the terms of the agreement. There are reports of non -compliance with legs that the payments amounted to Batsen $ 30 million and $ 40 million.
Huffman said that if agricultural operators do not want to take the money, they could cancel the agreement.
“I have directly asked you of any number of forms; do you want this or not?” Huffman said. “Everyone has confirmed that this is in fact what they want. It depends on them, not for the external parts.”
In February, Andrew Giacomini, a prominent lawyer from West Marin, filed a complaint in the District Court claiming that the Parks Service conspired with the Nature Conservancy to pay the farmers of the department in exchange for the Ranceros who renounce their rights jokes “are property of conservation.
Giacomomini is representing people living in the ranches and dairy that will be closed, all of which face eviction. Most occupants are Latin, some but not all are agricultural workers who will also lose their jobs.
Giacomini had previously said he intended to see his cause in Washington, DC on Thursday, however, he denied having caused the investigation of the Chamber Committee.
In an email, Giaomini said he supported the investigation of the Congress of the Secret Agreement, which he considers Orlawful, but added: “He had no role that is not an animator for those who were pressing him.”
John Seibels, spokesman for the committee, said the committee does not comment on the origin of the investigations.
In his letter to Nature Conservancy, the Committee wrote: “Altheheh, the producers who participate in the purchase have publicly expressed the doubt of participating, have been lasted by confidentiality agreements that limit what they are allowed to share.”
The letter also establishes that the Committee has obtained documents that show that donors for the conservation of nature and environmental defenders have expressed their discontent with the agreement.
According to the letter, “these significant groups include a greater risk of forest fires, decreased biodiversity, the drastic reduction of the local agricultural economy and the loss of housing for local agricultural workers.”
Nature Conservancy was the only environmental group that responded to a request for comments. “We are checking the letter and we will respond to the committee,” spokeswoman Heather Gately wrote.
He added that Nature Conservancy “was requested by all litigating parts, including farmers, who work in their mediation as an honest corridor and help find a commitment to end the long -standing conflict.”
Last week, the heads of the Straus Creamery family, Clover Sonoma and Organic West sent a letter to Huffman asking that the closing deadline to allow more time for an effort to relocate dairy farms inside North Bay.
“In the last decade we have lost 25 dairy farms in North Bay’s milk shed, a place where 60% of the state’s organic milk occurs,” said the letter. “Our three companies hire approximately 80% of milk supply in North Bay. Reversing the loss of local dairy farms is an urgent issue for our businesses and the local agricultural industry.”
In April 2024, Huffman obtained a federal allocation of $ 1 million to be used to help relocate dairy farms. Until now, nothing of that money has been spent.
The letter was: “We are working with Marin Agricultural Land Trust, Sonoma Land Trust and Sonoma AG and open space to identify farms in Sonoma and Marin that could work for these dairy products.”
Executives wrote in their letter, however, that more time is needed for affected dairy farmers to identify, acquire, allow, modernize, finance and initiate new dairy operations.
They declared that, by virtue of the current deadline, milking operations would have to stop by October 2025 to maintain compliance with the management of manure under the regional regulations of the Water Quality Control Board.
“These farmers must decide for May whether to stop permanently dairy agriculture or try to relocate elsewhere,” the letter continued. “This is an unsustainable timeline.”
Huffman wrote in an email: “We are considering making a request to the liquidation parties for an extension of placement time by little that would not apply to all newspapers and ranches; we would request it if and only if one or more of the dairy would like an extension to facilitate the relocation in another place of North Bay.”
With regard to the $ 1 million he said for relocation, Huffman added: “There have been some encouraging conversations with some of the dairy families about staying in North Bay and using the funds, and I am optimistic that we will find a way to help at least one and potentially several dairy families do that.”
Marin’s County Supervisor Dennis Rodoni, wrote in an email: “It is important to understand that the letter did not come from the dairy products that still operate at the point of the Kings Peninsula.”