[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 123 (Thursday, September 13, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1518-E1519]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 13, 2012

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Point Reyes National 
Seashore in Marin County, CA, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. 
Millions of people--and flora and fauna--have benefitted from the law 
President John F. Kennedy signed on September 13, 1962, ``to save and 
preserve, for the purpose of public recreation, benefit, and 
inspiration, a portion of the diminishing seashore of the United States 
that remains undeveloped.''
  Celebrating with the theme of A Natural Sanctuary, A Human Haven, 
Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) truly embodies these values. From 
its pristine beaches and forests to its ranches and grasslands, the 
area provides recreational and cultural resources as well as habitat 
for a wide variety of species. And nearly one-third of known marine 
mammal species feed in the waters just off the park's coast.
  The Point Reyes peninsula has an unusually rich history. Coast Miwok 
Indians inhabited the peninsula 500 years ago, and, in 1579, Sir 
Francis Drake and his crew became the first Europeans to meet the 
Miwoks when they stopped to replenish water and supplies. The survivors 
of a shipwrecked Manila galleon came ashore a few decades later, 
foreshadowing a history of shipwrecks that led to the establishment of 
dramatic lighthouses and lifesaving stations that exist today. In the 
19th century, ranchos were developed by Mexican land grantees, and 
ranching continues today

[[Page E1519]]

in pastoral zones in which cows share the landscape with native birds, 
plants, and animals. Lying on the San Andreas Fault, PRNS also displays 
the effects of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the sign of 
geological land in motion as the peninsula moves north at the rate of 
two inches a year.
  This special area was first conceived as a park in 1938, and today it 
hosts over two million visitors a year. It is one of the country's most 
visited national parks.
  Mr. Speaker, it takes hard work by many visionary and dedicated 
people to create and maintain a jewel like Point Reyes National 
Seashore. I am proud to congratulate all of them on 50 years of 
providing A Natural Sanctuary, A Human Haven.

                          ____________________