The Oyster War: The True Story of a Small Farm, Big Politics, and the Future of Wilderness in America

by Summer Brennan

It all began simply enough. In 1976 the Point Reyes Wilderness Act granted the highest protection in America to more than 33,000 acres of California forest, grassland and shoreline – including Drakes Estero, an estuary of stunning beauty. Inside was a small, family–run oyster farm first established in the 1930s. A local rancher bought the business in 2005, renaming it The Drakes Bay Oyster Company. When the National Park Service informed him that the 40–year lease would not be renewed past 2012, he vowed to keep the farm in business even if it meant taking his fight all the way to the Supreme Court.

Environmentalists, national politicians, scientists, and the Department of the Interior all joined a protracted battle for the estuary that had the power to influence the future of wilderness for decades to come. Were the oyster farmers environmental criminals, or victims of government fraud? Fought against a backdrop of fear of government corruption and the looming specter of climate change, the battle struck a national nerve, pitting nature against agriculture and science against politics, as it sought to determine who belonged and who didn't belong, and what it means to be wild.

• ISBN10: 1619025272
• ISBN13: 9781619025271
• Publish Date: 11 August 2015 (first published 1 August 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Counterpoint
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781619025271

Reviews

[dpfaef]

Who would have thought that an oyster farm on the coast of Northern California could have caused a national hullabaloo? Summer Brennan does an excellent job of providing a history of oyster farming on the West Coast (who knew that oysters are not native to the Northern California Coast) and how the 1976 Point Reyes Wilderness Act set the stage for ten-year battle to save an oyster farm on the beautiful Northern California coastline.

In 2005 the Oyster Farm sold; becoming The Drake's Bay Oyster Company, the National Park Service advised the new owners that the 40 year lease would not be renewed in 2012. What commenced was an epic battle between the private sector and the government, with environmentalists, politicians, and the scientific community all voicing an opinion.

I don't believe there was a real cut answer to whether or not the oyster farm should have been allowed to continue in business but I do support the NPS for not allowing it to continue as it does set a precedent which I think would very easily be abused.

This review was originally posted on THE PFAEFFLE JOURNAL