Point Reyes Safaris

Final National Park Service Management Plan Announced for Point Reyes National Seashore ...and it is devastating for the environment and native wildlife. On Fr...iday, the National Park Service announced its intention for the future management of Point Reyes National Seashore. Unbelievably, the new plan will include the following: The killing of native Tule elk The introduction of new domestic animals to be raised inside the National Park (chickens, pigs, sheep, goats) The conversion of current grasslands to row crops The National Park Service will now begin killing native Tule elk to free up grass for cows which graze in the park. Tule elk numbers are at less than 1% of their native numbers and Point Reyes National Seashore is the only National Park that has these majestic animals. The National Park Service will now allow ranchers to raise pigs, chickens, sheep, goats and other domestic animals inside Point Reyes National Seashore. Many organizations warned of the immediate conflict that will occur with coyotes, bobcats, badgers, fox, owls and other predators. The National Park Service has ignored these warnings. There will be immediate calls by ranchers for predator control. Native wildlife will certainly suffer from this decision. The National Park Service will allow ranchers to convert open grasslands to row crops. Badgers, burrowing owls, coyotes, bobcats, snakes, gophers and countless other animals den, hunt, mate, travel and raise their young in these grasslands. Rabbits, deer, gophers, insects and other wildlife will eat these row crops putting them in immediate conflict with ranchers. What can you do? Resource Renewal Institute has a Call to Action page addressing this announcement. They have also released a film on the killing of the Tule elk. Watch the film, then scroll to the Calls to Action. www.restoreptreyesseashore.org/elkfilm I can not tell you how devastated I am to share this news with you. Please share this post. Photo: Copyright Jonathan Huyer

10 days left to join the Photo Club. Receive 1 high resolution image a month for 6 months to print as large as you want for your personal use. AND WIN A WILDLIFE SAFARI! The past 6 months has been so hard for so many people. My hope is that the Photo Club can offer my followers, fans and safari guests a very inexpensive way to own one of my images while helping me recover from Covid-19 and the wildfires which have prevented me from guiding my safaris. The link to the Photo Club is in my bio. Thank you so much for your support.

Needless to say, the past several months have been crazy. Covid-19 shut the park down in early March, shutting down safaris. In June, we got the go ahead to start safaris again. We were able to get back out several times in July but now the CA wildfires have shut the park down again. The silver lining is the area of the park we operate in has not been affected by the fires. So hopefully when the fires are under control, we can get back out there. With that, here are some images from the few safaris we were able to do in July. I look forward to sharing more when we get back out there!

If you have ever been interested in owning a print of my work, there will never be a less expensive or better time to do so than these next 2 weeks. The closure... of Point Reyes National Seashore due to Covid-19 and now the recent CA wildfires have prevented me from operating my photography safaris. 2020 has been a very difficult year for so many of us. In an attempt to adapt my business in a way that will benefit my friends, followers and safari guests, for the next 2 weeks I am offering a way to own some of my photography at a fraction of the prices found on my website. By becoming a member of the PHOTO CLUB, you will receive one high resolution image every month for 6 months, which you can print at any size for your personal use. These are exclusive images to PHOTO CLUB Members only and will not be available for sale to anyone else or be used in any other manner. In addition, one Photo Club Member will be selected to join me on a free wildlife safari! This opportunity will only be open through September 7th, 2020. Details at www.danieldietrich.com. Thank you so much for your support.

The park has been crazy exciting this past few weeks. Most notably we have had 3 bobcats photographed off the ground; 2 in trees and 1 on a fence post. Super cool stuff! Coyotes on tops of mountains, HUGE gophers getting hit by great blue herons, the grey ghost (Northern Harrier), a Merlin, coyote scoring a meal and 6! river otters rolling around on the sand. The park is still open and alive during these rough times. Get out and hike to keep your sanity but be very safe and maintain your social distances!