Story and Photos by George Alfaro • Bay City News

PART 3 | April 2, 2026

RUNNING A DAIRY RANCH is not for the faint of heart.

The job is demanding, requiring a near 24-hour rotation as the first milking session begins at 2:30 a.m. Until it ends around sunrise at 6:30 a.m. Then cattle are let out to graze while their pens are cleaned, and fresh alfalfa bales are brought in via tractor loads.

At the Historic A Ranch on the Point Reyes National Seashore, the Jerseys and Holsteins spent the days grazing the rolling hills while waves crashed nearby, only to be herded back into corrals as the sun set. Dusk marked the beginning of the second milking session which carried into the night.

The Historic A Ranch was established as a dairy in 1859 when Rufus T. Buell arrived on the peninsula with 13 cows. Through acquisitions and leases, the ranch changed hands repeatedly, and the Nunes Family took over the business after George Nunes married the daughter of the then-ranch owners in 1932.

The dairy was operated by the Nunes family for almost 100 years, until the permanent closure of 12 dairy and beef cattle operations at Point Reyes was announced in January 2025. That left William Nunes, great-great-grandson of George, as the last of his family to work the peninsula’s grasslands.

William Nunes pulls the door shut to close his barn on the Historic A Ranch. The herd is released midday so that they may graze on the rolling hills and roam before nightfall. (George Alfaro/Bay City News)

William took over the family business in 2019 after returning from California State University, Chico at just 22 years old. He ran the 866-acre dairy with his sister Lianne Nunes-Taverna.

William Nunes prepares bottles of milk for each of the young calves. The calves are separated from the rest of the herd to prevent the spread of disease, and so they must drink their mother’s milk from a bottle until they are mature enough to graze. (George Alfaro/Bay City News)

For most of that time, it’s been a very successful enterprise. The grasslands of Point Reyes have long been known as one of the nation’s leading dairy regions, with organic certifications and partnerships across the industry. Its area has contributed mightily to Marin County’s local economy, as well as to California’s total milk output, which represents more than 20 percent of the nation’s total production and more than any other state.

It’s been a tougher business in recent years, however. In 2025, 17 California farms filed for bankruptcy according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, citing rising costs and financial pressures. Drought periods, stringent environmental regulations and rising costs of feed among other operating expenses have strained dairy farmers, pressuring them to relocate or close altogether. This decline has particularly affected smaller family operations.

But the closure of the Nunes family ranch is due to litigation, rather than economic decline.

In 2022, the Resource Renewal Institute, Center for Biological Diversity and the Western Watersheds Project filed a lawsuit against the National Park Service for allegedly violating federal law by permitting commercial agriculture operations within the Point Reyes National Seashore. The suit alleged that the policy did not prioritize the protection of the natural environment nor support the public’s use of the land.

Left: William Nunes breaks up hay for a calf that is lying in its own pen, separated from the rest of the herd to prevent the spread of disease. The calves use the hay as bedding within their enclosures. Right: Nunes distributes fresh water to all the calves, stopping by each pen to replenish dishes. The pens are located down a short dirt road from the primary ranch grounds, away from the corrals and barns where the rest of the herd resides. (George Alfaro/Bay City News)
William Nunes rides past a corral on the Historic A Ranch after bringing hay for the herd. The path is just wide enough to accommodate an all-terrain vehicle equipped with a modest trailer to haul the hay bales. (George Alfaro/Bay City News)

A total of 14 ranches were targeted by the lawsuit, including the Nunes Family Ranch. After years of negotiations and a financial subsidy from The Nature Conservancy, 11 families that operate 12 ranches agreed to a $30 million buyout in exchange for voluntarily relinquishing their leases.

Now, just two beef cattle ranches will remain on the Point Reyes National Seashore: the Niman Ranch, which holds a rare lifetime lease and the D. Rogers Ranch, a small family cattle operation. (Ranching was also permitted to continue on a part of the peninsula outside the park borders).

Jersey cows sunbathe on a hill near the Historic A Ranch on the Point Reyes National Seashore. They spend most of the daylight hours lounging and grazing on the pastures before returning to the corrals at dusk. (George Alfaro/Bay City News)
A single-file column is led by a Holstein cow as William Nunes trails behind on an all-terrain vehicle, descending from a grassy hill on the Point Reyes National Seashore. The herd is making its way back to the Historic A Ranch as the sun begins to set. (George Alfaro/Bay City News)

As residents and ranch workers departed the Nunes Family Ranch, William was tasked with deconstructing the operation one building at a time. Now, he hopes to continue the family business in Sonoma or Marin County, but high property prices may well prove cost prohibitive. Nunes admits he may have to relocate as far north as Washington, leaving California behind altogether.

William Nunes uses a tractor to move hay bales from a storage barn to a trailer where he is able to distribute the hay in the corrals and pens. The mix of matured Jersey and Holstein cows eat the hay while the younger calves use it as bedding. (George Alfaro/Bay City News)

On some level, the culmination of his contentious time on the Seashore comes with some level of relief for Nunes, who compared the leases with the National Park Service to a poisonous love affair.

“Having to deal with the Park Service is like being in a toxic relationship,” Nunes said. “It might seem great in the moment, but once you move on you realize you are better off.”

He said several factors made him decide to take the buyout. The uncertainty over the future of agriculture in the park had frustrated Nunes’ attempts to improve his operation. The short-term nature of current leases for the land that his family once owned, coupled with a statement from the National Parks Service that said that the federal agency was not interested in being landlords, also convinced him to look elsewhere.

Left: William Nunes teaches a young calf to drink milk from a bottle not long after night fall. Separated from the rest of the herd to prevent the spread of disease, the calves must learn to drink from a bottle until they are old enough to eat alfalfa bales and feed. Right: Young calves are placed in their own pens, separated from the rest of the herd to prevent the spread of disease on the Historic A Ranch. Each calf is provided with fresh alfalfa, water and is given a bottle of milk shortly after nightfall. (George Alfaro/Bay City News)

“Why invest $125,000 to $175,000 on the equipment I need to upgrade the dairy when they can take it away at any moment?” Nunes asked.

The uncooperative nature of the federal agency managing the seashore left ranchers in an unfavorable position, he continued.

“This is one of the nicest places in the world,” William said, as he studied the horizon from his all-terrain quad. “Look across here. Do you see that? That’s San Francisco. You can see the city from here.

“But,” he added, “I am tired of not being able to move forward.”

William Nunes takes a break after bringing hay bales to a corral filled with cattle. The Jersey cows chow down on the hay after spending the day roaming the grasslands on the Point Reyes National Seashore. (George Alfaro/Bay City News)