Stories and Photos by George Alfaro • Bay City News
April 2, 2026
On April 8, a total of 12 ranches on the Point Reyes National Seashore will officially shutter their operations and permanently vacate the federally protected land after years of contested leases, litigation and environmental campaigns that sought to prioritize habitat protection over cattle operations.
The National Park Service, environmental groups and the Nature Conservancy settled with ranch owners for about $30 million, although for now two ranches remain. Ranch workers — largely excluded from talks — received significantly smaller payouts and have been displaced.
This series describes the events that led to this relocation and looks at the impact on ranchers and ranch hands.
We follow three-generation rancher Kevin Lunny as he leads one of his final cattle roundups.
We hear William Nunes, great great grandson of his ranch’s founder, describe the hardship of operating a family dairy as rising costs, regulatory uncertainties and, ultimately, litigation cause him to relocate.
We tell the stories of Marco Alcantar and Rosa Rodriguez who, along with dozens of other ranch hands and tenants, were left out of settlement talks and are scrambling to find new work and new housing.
The cessation of most ranching at the Point Reyes National Seashore returns thousands of parkland acres to their natural state — a victory for environmentalists and for tourists who visit. But 167 years of ranching tradition and local livelihoods are now coming to an end.
PART 1: LEAVING HOME – HOW THE DEAL WAS MADE
A $30 million settlement between ranchers, environmental groups and federal officials brings most ranching on Point Reyes to an end. The agreement resolves years of legal battles over land use, prioritizing habitat restoration over agriculture. While ranch owners received buyouts, workers and tenants were largely left out of negotiations. The closure of 12 ranches marks the end of a long-standing arrangement that once balanced conservation with working landscapes on the national seashore.
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PART 2: FINAL ROUNDUP – LUNNY FAMILY LEGACY
For the Lunny family, ranching on Point Reyes was more than a livelihood — it was a way of life spanning generations. As they prepare to leave Historic G Ranch, Kevin Lunny leads one of his final cattle roundups alongside family members who have worked the land for decades. Their departure marks the end of more than 150 years of continuous ranching history, as a deeply rooted family operation gives way to a future without cattle on the seashore.
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PART 3: A DAIRY DISMANTLED – THE NUNES RANCH
Running a dairy on Point Reyes has long required relentless work and resilience, but in recent years the challenges intensified. Rising costs, regulatory pressures and uncertainty over land leases made long-term investment increasingly difficult. For William Nunes, whose family operated their ranch for nearly a century, the final blow came not from economics but from litigation. Now forced to relocate, he faces an uncertain future as he tries to carry on a family tradition elsewhere.
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PART 4: THOSE LEFT BEHIND – WORKERS DISPLACED
As negotiations over the future of Point Reyes ranches unfolded behind closed doors, ranch workers and tenants were excluded from the process. Many of these largely Spanish-speaking families had lived and worked on the land for decades, with housing tied to their jobs. When the settlement was finalized, they were left to navigate displacement with limited resources. Their stories highlight the human cost of the transition, as families scramble to find housing, work and stability beyond the seashore.
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