A well-known California ranching family says the National Park Service violated federal laws when it approved a deal to phase out historic ranches along a protected coastline north of San Francisco.
Nicolette Hahn Niman and William Niman, who raise grass-fed cattle and produce other agricultural products at the seashore, filed a lawsuit Feb. 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that alleges a management plan for the Point Reyes National Seashore finalized earlier this year violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative Procedure Act and other federal laws.
The lawsuit names Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, as well as NPS, as defendants.
The Nimans are well known in the ranching world. Niman Ranch, which William Niman founded in the 1970s but left in the early 2000s, supplies meat products to Whole Foods and Chipotle. Nicolette Niman is an author of several books and articles on sustainable meat production and is the former attorney for the environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance.
