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James Li

James Li
@5149jamesli

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🚨 Gavin Newsom & his allies just forced 12 historic family farms & dairies out of Point Reyes National Seashore in California. They claim it’s about saving the environment — but the truth couldn't be more different. Here is the true story — and it's heartbreaking. ⬇️🧵1/

2/ For over 100 years, ranchers and dairy farmers have worked the land at Point Reyes. They built Marin’s organic food movement & supplied fresh milk to Californians. Now they’re being forced out — by environmental groups, the federal government, and Newsom’s political allies.
3/ When Congress created Point Reyes National Seashore in 1962, ranchers voluntarily sold their land to the federal government under one condition: they could keep ranching. That promise lasted 60 years — until powerful environmental groups decided to change the rules.
4/ In 2022, three environmental groups — Resource Renewal Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, and Western Watersheds Project sued the National Park Service to block 20-year ranching leases. The lawsuit set off a chain reaction that led to ranchers losing everything.
5/ At first, the National Park Service defended the ranchers. But then The Nature Conservancy — a billion-dollar “nonprofit” with deep political ties to Newsom —stepped in to negotiate a secret deal. The result? A $30M payout to ranchers who had no real choice but to leave.
6/ The $30M payout might sound like a lot — until you realize it’s being split across multiple families and businesses. "You don't want to see the book closed," said rancher Jarrod Mendoza, whose great-grandfather acquired the family’s land in 1919.
7/ Mendoza needs financing to rebuild his family’s barn, which was destroyed in a storm. But thanks to the park’s refusal to grant long-term leases, he couldn’t get a loan. Now, he’s being forced off his land altogether — along with 11 other ranching families.
8/ Worse? The farmers were placed under a strict gag order — they legally cannot tell the public how this deal really went down. Begs the question: if this was such a fair outcome, why was it done behind closed doors? Why are the ranchers being silenced? 🤔
9/ And here’s where Biden & Trump come in: - In 2019, Trump signed an executive order to protect farming in national parks. - In 2021, Biden reversed it. The final deal was reached in early January 2025, just weeks before Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2025.
10/ Who brokered the deal? Rep. Jared Huffman, who represents Point Reyes. Before Congress, he was an attorney for the NRDC, a powerful environmental lobbying group. So was he negotiating for his constituents — or for the same activists who wanted the ranchers gone?
11/ But this isn’t about protecting nature — it’s about business, politics, and ideology. The Park Service now admits it will have to hire private grazing contractors to manage the land and reduce wildfire risk. So cattle can stay — just not the families who raised them.
12/ Environmental groups sold this as a win for conservation. But the reality? It was a quiet land transfer — one that just happened to benefit some of the most politically connected non-profits in the country. And once these farms are gone, they’re gone forever.
James Li

James Li

@5149jamesli
Independent journalist 🧐 Documentary filmmaker 📹 @BreakingPointsN correspondent 📰
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