Drakes Bay Oyster Company In Court

Media Contact:

January 25, 2012

Helen Grieco (415) 531-1774

Drakes Bay Oyster Company In Court, California Common Cause Asks

Who Is Funding Their Counsel & What is Their Agenda?

San Francisco, CA – California Common Cause released a report today titled From Point

Reyes to the Grand Canyon. Across America, a series of private businesses are fighting for

the right to make private, commercial use of America’s national parks and public lands. The

struggle has come to California in a potentially precedent setting battle over the Point

Reyes National Seashore.

Drakes Bay Oyster Company (DBOC) bought this business in 2004 with a lease that clearly

stated it would expire permanently in November 2012. The lease was set to expire because

DBOC is situated upon land that was set aside by Congress to join the Point Reyes National

Seashore. In December 2012, DBOC filed a lawsuit against the Interior Department for

Secretary Salazar’s decision to let the DBOC lease expire on Nov 31, 2012. National Parks

Conservation Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, Save Our Seashore, and

Environmental Action Committee of West Marin strongly oppose extending DBOC lease.

Cause of Action, a DC-based non-profit, is representing DBOC for free, and when asked to

disclose their funders they refused.

“This case has significant implications for the privatization and use of public lands across

the nation,” stated Helen Grieco, Northern California organizer for California Common

Cause and author of the report. “By refusing to disclose their donors, Cause of Action casts

a shadow on their credibility and leaves many unanswered questions about the identity of

their major donors and their donors’ interests in developing public lands.”

Friday, January 25 at 2:00PM PST in the Oakland Courthouse, Judge Yvonne Gonzales

Rogers will hear DBOC counsel, Amber Abbasi, argue to request for a preliminary

injunction to allow the company to continue operating beyond the current February 28,

2013 deadline. Lawyers from the Interior Department will argue against the request to the

judge.

California Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to restoring an open, honest, and accountable government, also working to strengthen public participation and ensuring that political processes serve the public interest, rather than the special interests.