Valley on the part of outside developers and 

 speculators. 109 



The interests described had little time to act. Public Law 92-589, authorizing 

 Golden Gate National Recreation Area, was signed by President Richard Nixon 

 on October 27, 1972. Included in the approximately 35,000 acres in the 

 designated park boundaries were more than 8,000 acres of ranching land in the 

 Olema Valley. The Acquisition Policy of the Act contained an important 

 provision that helped significantly to ease the initial impact of the park on the 

 ranching community. It specified that owners of improved properties could 

 retain a right of use and occupancy for life or a term of 25 years. In the Olema 

 Valley, four landowners elected to retain such rights, thus helping to maintain 

 the stability of the local economy and the continuity of cultural values. On 

 November 10, 1978, Public Law #95-625 increased the park's boundaries to the 

 north and east of Olema, to include much of the Lagunitas Creek area in the 

 vicinity of Tocaloma and Devils Gulch. This Act specifically mentioned 

 agriculture as an appropriate continuing use of the area within park boundaries, 

 and all of the owners in the area retained 25-year rights. More land, 1,214 

 acres including Samuel P. Taylor State Park and more of the Lagunitas Loop, 

 was added with Public Law 96-199 on March 5, 1980, and Public law 96-344 of 

 September 8, 1980 added 1,096 acres of the McFadden and Genazzi Ranches. 

 These boundary changes increased the lands in the Olema Valley/Tocaloma 

 area to more than 10,000 acres. 



Three subsequent acts of Congress added acreage to Point Reyes 

 National Seashore: 448 acres in the Inverness Ridge and Bear Valley areas in 

 1974 (Public Law 93-550), about 2,000 acres in the Bolinas area in 1978 (Public 

 Law 95-625), and an undetermined number of acres in the Inverness Park area 

 in 1980 (Public Law 96-199). Under a management agreement with General 

 Superintendent of GGNRA, the Superintendent of Point Reyes National 

 Seashore manages 10,125 acres of the adjacent Golden Gate National 

 Recreation Area, which is almost entirely in agricultural operation as beef and 

 horse ranches. 110 



109 Golden Gate National Recreation Area Oral History Interview with Boyd Stewart, by 

 Sara Conklin, June 15, 1993. 



110 Ibid., pp. 46-47; "Briefing Statement," Point Reyes National Seashore, January, 1987, pp. 1, 3; 

 "Statement for Management," Golden Gate National Recreation Area, April 1992. 



66 



