Marin Independent Journal - Feinstein's Move Makes Sure Science Gets Fair Review

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By Unknown

THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE promised to complete a fair and thorough review of the Drakes Bay Oyster Co.'s request to extend its lease at Point Reyes National Seashore, but public questions are already swirling about the study's accuracy.

That's not surprising in a debate where people seem to find room to disagree over nearly every fact.

That's why U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's legislation asking the National Academy of Sciences to review the park service's environmental impact statement study is so important.

It's unfortunate that she has to take this step, but it is important to the public's trust in the outcome.

Having the academy verify the park service's work before a decision is rendered may be the fair evaluation that's needed.

Unfortunately, the park service's conduct in ending the oyster farm's longstanding lease has been heavy-handed and controversial. Local park service officials had a legitimate reason to end the lease -- 1976 federal legislation that intended to turn the farm into wilderness after its lease ends in November.

But rather than letting the lease expire, the park service took the offensive, giving the popular business a swift kick with accusations that the farm's operations were causing serious damage to the Drakes Estero habitat and wildlife.

Those accusations have been at the center of numerous state, federal and private reports that now amount

to a mountain of contrasting conclusions -- and a few murky inconclusive ones.
The latest study, the federal Marine Mammal Commission's review concluded that the oyster farm may be harmful and recommended, just as inconclusively, that more study is warranted. But critics of the oyster farm hailed the commission's findings as definitive and reason to end the lease.

Around Marin, the debate over the future of the oyster farm has sharply divided environmental activists, who on most issues stand shoulder-to-shoulder. But they part company over ending the lease and the park service's conduct.

Critics of the park service paint them as bureaucratic bullies.

The follow-up review by the National Academy of Sciences should add a helpful dose of scientific expertise and fairness to the park service's decision.

"Missteps by the National Park Service have fundamentally undermined its ability to accurately review this application," Feinstein wrote in September.

Having the park service's work vetted by the National Academy of Science "is the only way for the Park Service to salvage any credibility," says Feinstein.

The senator has defended the oyster farm, seen by many as a leading example of local mariculture. She has supported extending the lease for at least 10 years.

This debate has become a tempest of politics and science. Having Congress ask the National Academy of Sciences to review the park service's findings may not settle the debate.

The political divide, sadly, runs deep. But Feinstein's legislation helps make sure the matter is not going to be settled without first undergoing fair and thorough scientific review.

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