Who owns niman ranch

Congress voted in to allow the government to extend these ranching leases, which has continued through today. The plan calls for keeping the Drakes Beach herd at elk or fewer. The herd had elk as of this past winter, according to the park service.

The park does not propose killing elk in the other free-roaming herd, the member Limantour herd, and the largest herd of elk that lives in a fenced-in enclosure at the Tomales Point Preserve.

Once thought extinct from hunting and habitat loss, tule elk were reintroduced to the park in at Tomales Point. The park no longer contains natural predators of the elk. The coastal commission has received about 35, comments since December, a large portion of which related to the tule elk proposal. Melanie Gunn, a park official, stressed that the plan does not allow for the shooting of other animals such as coyotes or bobcats.

Ranching impacts on water quality, such as runoff from manure or fertilizer making its way to creeks, is the standout issue, said Kate Huckelbridge, commission deputy director.

Commission staff are requesting the park service conduct annual water quality tests near active ranches and report on methods to prevent contamination, especially for waters that have not been tested since Should the park service reject this recommendation, the commission has other avenues available, including both mediation and ultimately the court system to try to convince it otherwise, Huckelbridge said.

The park contains about 2, beef cattle and 3, dairy cows. In addition, some land could be converted to allow for growing produce and some ranches could also be opened up to visitors and ranch stays. Bill Niman, a year rancher who owns Niman Ranch at the southern end of the park, said the certainty provided by longer leases is essential given the significant investments needed to replace buildings and equipment that degrades rapidly along the coast as well as to make all the improvements needed to protect water quality.

The plan calls for reducing the amount of ranch land to 26, acres as part of a new method of designating land for certain ranching activities. For example, 2, acres will be blocked off to ranching to protect sensitive habitat and species. After the national seashore was established in under President John F. Ranchers were then given the option to lease the land from the government to continue working for 25 years.

Congress voted in to allow the government to extend these ranching leases, which has continued through today. The plan calls for keeping the Drakes Beach herd at elk or fewer.

The herd had elk as of this past winter, according to the park service. The park does not propose killing elk in the other free-roaming herd, the member Limantour herd, and the largest herd of elk that lives in a fenced-in enclosure at the Tomales Point Preserve. It could be raised naturally, humanely and sustainably, better for people and the planet. Niman knew success would take time, but believed his methods would prove profitable.

But in nearly 30 years of existence, despite becoming the darling of high-end chefs and turning the brand into a household name, Niman Ranch never did turn a profit. In fact, it was broke. The year-old Bolinas man said he can live with losing the business he built from scratch. But he can't stand quietly by, he says, while the new owners fundamentally change the brand that influenced an entire food movement. He refuses to eat their products. Officials from the company argue that the integrity of Niman Ranch's meat program has never been better.

Many say Niman is the epitome of an idealist, whose mission was to change the way people eat and encourage them to think ethically about their food. But in the larger vision, Bill Niman led the pathway. Commercially, Niman's methods were unorthodox, the ideals of a hippie who had moved out West during the Vietnam War to avoid the draft by teaching school in the heart of farm country.

Unlike mainstream producers, Niman forbid growth hormones, used antibiotics only when an animal became sick, and demanded that the livestock be raised on the open range and readied for slaughter in an uncrowded, Niman-owned feedlot. Most commercial beef producers send weaned calves to a feedlot to grow and be finished on grain, but Niman's cattle grazed on grass - virtually unheard of in the s.

Although standard beef cattle are most often slaughtered between 12 and 14 months, Niman didn't slaughter them until 20 to 24 months, moving them at 14 months to his own feedlot where they were fattened on a vegetarian diet of grain for four or five more months. Ken Bentz , an Oregon cattleman who has been ranching since World War II and subscribes to the same natural methods, wonders if it wasn't a bit over the top.

But it showed. He produced the best quality beef in the world. Niman didn't grow up on a farm. Still, he knew a thing or two about food. His father owned a grocery store in Minneapolis. Niman spent his youth shopping with his dad at farmers' markets, and worked weekends stocking shelves and operating the cash register. By 21, he had earned a degree in anthropology and was enrolled in law school. But the Vietnam War was raging and Niman knew it was just a matter of time before he would be called up for duty.

His college roommate had already been killed in the war he fiercely opposed. He learned that he could get out of the draft if he volunteered to teach middle school as part of President Lyndon Johnson 's program to wipe out poverty in the United States. By , Niman was teaching science to students in a poor cotton-growing community of the San Joaquin Valley. Eventually, he went back to school to get his teaching credential and got a school job in West Marin. It was there that he met his first wife, Amy Gettinger , who would later die in a horse-riding accident.

The couple decided they'd like a few acres to raise a couple of goats, chickens, hogs and horses. Financially it was a stretch for the two teachers, but they made up the difference by moonlighting at a local cafe.