Monday, September 11, 2023: Reflection, Tule Elk and Emergency Prep Help for Seniors:
Monday, September 11, 2023:
Reflection by Henri Nouwen, Tule Elk from Steve Lyman and Emergency Prep Help for Seniors from Pat O'Connor
Reflection:
Your Inner Community
Those you have deeply loved become part of you. The longer you live, there will always be more people to be loved by you and to become part of your inner community.
The wider your community becomes, the more easily you will recognize brothers and sisters in the strangers around you.
The wider the community of your heart, the wider the community around you,
From You Are the Beloved by Henri J.M. Nouwen
Reminder: All Community Meeting before our next liturgy on September 24th. We'll start at 1:45
Steve Lyman brought up the fight over Cattle and Dairy ranchine VS Tule Elk at Point Reyes.
Here are a few articles to read which may propel you to take action.
This story was originally published by Biographic and is republished here by permission. (excellent article about the fight between cattle ranchers and the Tule Elk at Point Reyes).
Editor’s note: A decision over a management plan related to ranching operations at Point Reyes is expected in late spring.
Point Reyes sits at the western edge of Marin County, California, a pick-axe shaped peninsula that juts between the pounding waves of the Pacific. It’s a landscape of stark beauty; a patchwork of windswept headlands, broad leeward bays, wildflower-strewn meadows, and dripping evergreen forest. State and federal agencies list more than a hundred plant and animal species within the park as threatened or endangered, among them the California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii), western snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus), and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). This natural richness draws around 2 million visitors a year.
https://www.hcn.org/articles/wildlife-the-battle-over-point-reyes-tule-elk
From the National Park Service:
Tule Elk at Tomales Point FAQ
Are you interested in the future management of tule elk at Tomales Point? As of spring of 2022, the National Park Service is preparing a Tomales Point Area Plan to address the management of the Tomales Point region of the park, including the fenced Tomales Point tule elk. Learn more and get involved at the link above.
For more information about the tule elk herd at Tomales Point, particularly during two droughts over the last decade and other background information, please see the timeline and FAQs below.
https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/nature/tule_elk_tomales_point_faq.htm#CP_JUMP_7019966
Op Ed written for the Marin IJBy HUEY JOHNSON |
PUBLISHED: April 29, 2015 at 11:20 a.m. | UPDATED: July 19, 2018
Death by thirst. That is what the recent National Park Service acknowledged was the tragic end for 250 tule elk over the past two years in Point Reyes National Seashore.
I am appalled, as no animal should suffer that terribly. I am furious, as many of those who oppose hunting elk stood by and let these elk suffer a slow death. And I am frustrated that the National Park Service continues to honor the wishes of cattle ranchers in West Marin over the main charge they have, which is to conserve the land for wildlife.
Responding to a recent report by the Park Service, as well as the news that the government is considering a ranch management plan to extend the park cattle grazing leases for up to 20 more years, Jeff Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity wrote: “The Park Service already prioritizes commercial cattle grazing in Pt. Reyes … . The loss of nearly half the Pierce Point elk herd highlights how important it is that the Park Service not cave to commercial ranchers who want free-roaming Point Reyes elk fenced in.”
Ironically, where they are fenced is inside the Pierce Point Wildlife Preserve, from where they are prevented from roaming to find water.
You, the taxpayer who owns this public land, in public trust, would think that being in a national park would assure the elk the run of the place.
The elk are trapped in a strange setting and in a stranger system.
A special interest, the farm bureau (with an office in Pt. Reyes), has wired the politics in this park and in 60 other national parks. Ranching of domestic cattle wins out over the increasingly rare wild animals for space, grazing, water and political favor.
In most cases, you, the taxpayer are subsidizing ranchers’ private profit.
Since the founding of the national seashore, ranches inside the park have inherited grazing rights for cattle. (Full Op-Ed here)
https://www.marinij.com/2015/04/29/marin-voice-elk-deaths-in-point-reyes-the-tragedy-must-stop/
WHO WE ARE
ForELK is a volunteer-run, grassroots organization founded by wildlife lovers and activists Diana Oppenheim and Spiraleena Mason. Under their leadership, ForELK grew into the operation it is today, becoming well-known and respected by others involved in the effort to save, free, and prioritize the native tule elk. Previously, ForELK created a billboard campaign and a letter writing campaign and organized multiple protests and events.
ForELK has since expanded its scope and has become a campaign of Save The Uglies, a youth-led non-profit organization based in the Bay Area. Our team hopes to engage the public and shift policy within Point Reyes to protect the tule elk and the multitude of other species which inhabit the coastal prairie habitat of Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS). While we are an independent organization that is not affiliated with any other environmental groups, we are open to working with any individual, community, or organization who shares our goal.
If you want to sign a petition see the Take Action page of For Elk:
From Pat O’Connor – Emergency Prep Help for Seniors:
How We Help: Workshops
In our two-part workshops, EPH brings expert speakers from local agencies such as the fire department, emergency services, American Red Cross, and animal services (on keeping pets calm and safe during an emergency).
Older adults learn:
How to prepare emergency go-bags
Where to go, what to do in an evacuation
Steps to take in extended power outages
Pet care in an emergency
Basic equipment and provisions needed
Sign ups for emergency alerts and radios
All participants receive a free emergency go-bag with basic supplies
About EPH
EPH was started in 2021 by Indigo Perry, Lynn Stanton, and Lyn Van Tighem, who have worked in the nonprofit sector for a combined total of 60+ years. They noticed that seniors weren’t getting the help they needed to be prepared for the next emergency – which could be right around the corner.
Here’s the homepage for EPH – lots of excellent information
https://www.emergencyprephelp.org/