- Oyster stew
North Bay Rep. Lynn Woolsey is usually hand-in-glove with conservation groups, but a deep schism is developing between the Petaluma Democrat and some environmentalists over an oyster farming operation at Point Reyes National Seashore.
Drakes Bay Oyster Company's permit expires in 2012, and the
1,100-acre property that it leases from the National Park Service is scheduled
to become protected wilderness at that time. The company, the largest
commercial shellfish operation in
The Park Service has published reports saying the oyster farm is detrimental to the surrounding area, but a recent review by the National Academy of Sciences found that those conclusions were overstated.
Many conservation groups object to a commercial operation, such as the oyster farm, delaying a wilderness designation.
Woolsey sided with conservation groups last year, writing letters that helped block an attempt to attach a lease extension to the Interior appropriations bill.
Now, however, she is siding with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has attached a rider to extend the lease to this year's Interior appropriations bill. Woolsey issued a written statement citing environmental safeguards included in Feinstein's amendment, but conservation groups are lobbying hard against it.
In addition to objections to delaying the wilderness
designation for the
The House version of the bill - which doesn't include the oyster farm lease language - passed last week, so the issue may get hashed out by a conference committee.
-- Jim Sweeney









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