Senator David Vitter
(R - La)
Doing a Vitter
If there was any question of whether the immense sum of money being spent in support for the renewal of Drakes Bay Oyster Company's lease was tied directly to expanding oil drilling in designated wilderness areas, it has been extinguished. Senator Vitter (R - La) has added to his "Energy Production and Project Delivery Act of 2013" (the Bill) a requirement that the Department of the Interior extend the lease for the Lunny family's commercial operation in a designated wilderness area for 10 years, with an additional 10 year extension after that. Adding insult to injury, it would also prevent Drakes Estero from becoming the wilderness shoreline area Congress intended when the Point Reyes Wilderness Act was passed in 1976.
Section 310 of the Bill reads:
(1) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National Park Service, shall--
(A) reinstate, for a period of not less than 10 years, the reservation of use and occupancy and special use permits to conduct commercial operations within Point Reyes National Seashore in the State of California held by Drakes Bay Oyster Company, which expired on November 30, 2012, subject to the terms and conditions contained in those permits, as in effect on November 29, 2012; and
(B) on receipt of a request from Drakes Bay Oyster Company (or a successor in interest), renew those reinstated permits for an additional 10-year period; and
(2) Drakes Estero in the State of California shall not be converted to a designated wilderness.
