4 ms·

I immediately thought of Point Reyes when I started reading this article — it's such a cool, extreme ecosystem, and then you wonder, "what is that SMELL?" and y

I immediately thought of Point Reyes when I started reading this article — it's such a cool, extreme ecosystem, and then you wonder, "what is that SMELL?" and you turn your head, and there are the cattle herds and tons of cow shit. I'm from the Midwest, grew up on a farm, and I wish California would get out of the livestock business. I've driven by all sorts of CAFOs, but Point Reyes and Harris Ranch take disgusting to a new level. The Midwest has significant water quality issues stemming from big ag that need to be solved, for sure, but California's ecosystems are varied and amazing, and they're being ruined by types of agriculture that's not well-suited to the land.

mythrwy 4y ago
Agreed. I also grew up around cattle and eat beef regularly. No objection to cattle farming at all on my part. But I lived in Arizona and worked with native vegetation for a long time and saw the vast amount of damage cattle did the desert ecosystem. No animal that size lives there natively. Much of the ground was BLM and leased for very nominal fees. Tearing up a desert ecosystem that takes a long time to regenerate for the tiny amount of money produced by skinny parched cows at a subsidy makes no sense at all. I vote we keep the cows, but where they belong and not where they don't belong.