Northern California ranchers won a temporary court victory last week, with a judge ordering the National Park Service to halt plans to allow elk to roam free in the Point Reyes National Seashore.
NPS announced Dec. 2 that the agency would dismantle a controversial fence keeping tule elk contained to a portion of the Point Reyes seashore. The fence has been a touchpoint in decadeslong tensions between animal conservation groups and local ranchers, who say the fencing is necessary to keep elk away from disrupting their cattle and farming operations.
Following NPS’s announcement, the California Cattlemen’s Association filed a lawsuit to immediately stop the removal plans. On Friday, Northern California District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley issued a temporary restraining order to stop the fence removal but declined to require the reconstruction of fencing already removed.
According to conservation group In Defense of Animals, the 8-foot fence spans roughly 2.2 miles, 850 feet of which had been removed so far.
