Jared Huffman

Three of the six dairies that closed in the Point Reyes National Seashore earlier this year will share nearly $950,000 in federal funds secured by Rep. Jared Huffman, and two of those operations have signaled plans to resettle in Sonoma County.

Huffman secured the funds through a federal earmark request two years ago. In his budget request, Huffman said the funding would be used to restart organic dairy farms in the North Bay that were facing a gutted market for organic milk; drought conditions; feed cost increases from supply chain bottlenecks and inflation; and lease termination.

This was before the National Park Service announcement in January 2025 that six dairies and six ranches operating in the federal park had agreed to close in return for a reported $30 million private settlement brokered by The Nature Conservancy. Although the negotiations leading up to the agreement were closed to the public, Huffman was a participant.

The earmark money was awarded directly to Marin County to help the departing dairies restart elsewhere in Marin or Sonoma counties. Each of the three operators who applied — Spaletta Dairy, Kehoe Family Farm and Robert McClelland Dairy — will be eligible to receive an equal share of the $949,989 that is left over after a 5% administrative fee is subtracted.

Joe Deviney, Marin County’s agricultural commissioner, said the money has restrictions.

“It’s not to buy land or a milking parlor,” Deviney said. “There are specific practices that the Natural Resources Conservation Service provides funding for.”

Deviney estimated it would cost $8 million to $10 million to create a new North Bay dairy from scratch today.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The earmarked money must be used for planning, design and implementation of conservation practices that address concerns such as water quality, soil health and nutrient management.

The expenditures can include waste storage facilities, composting devices, planting to prevent erosion, air and water quality upgrades, irrigation pipelines and nutrient controls.

Jolynn McClelland declined to comment on the funding, and the other recipients did not respond to a request for comment. However, the applications they submitted to the county for the money shed some light on their plans.

The McClellands — Jolynn and Robert McClelland — wrote that they are merging the Historic L Ranch, which was within the federal seashore, with another of their operations at 13200 Valley Ford Road in Sonoma County. They requested $460,000 to construct a “loafing barn,” $290,000 to build a compost barn and $200,000 to buy a manure separator.

The Kehoe Family Farm application said it sold all the cattle and plans to start over at 1241 Middle Two Rock Road in Sonoma County. At one time, the Historic J Ranch, which the Kehoe family operated for 103 years in the seashore, had a herd of some 450 cows.

The family plans to spend about $700,000 improving the operation’s manure management system; $75,000 to transition the conventional dairy herd to organic; and $14,000 to design a nutrient management plan for the strategic application of fertilizers to minimize environmental impact.

The Spaletta family, which operated the C Ranch in the seashore, said it planned to relocate its organic dairy operations to two places in western Sonoma County: 1250 Estero Road and 2502 Middle Road.

The Spalettas didn’t ask for an exact amount or specify how they would spend any money they received. However, they listed a number of Natural Resources Conservation Service programs and wrote, “We would be thrilled to implement several of these.”

Huffman said, “It’s great to see the community project funding I secured go to these dairies from the Point Reyes National Seashore to help them remain in the North Bay. Preserving Marin County’s rich agricultural culture has been one of my highest priorities since I was elected to Congress.”

“On behalf of Marin County, we are deeply grateful to Congressman Huffman for securing this critical funding,” said Supervisor Dennis Rodoni, whose district includes West Marin.

But Nicolette Hahn Niman, co-owner of one of only two cattle operations remaining in the Point Reyes National Seashore, expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of Huffman’s efforts.

“The money that was secured is just an attempt to cover up the damage that was caused to the community by the loss of these farming and ranching families and the food they were producing,” Hahn Niman said. “It’s not nearly enough to actually help to relocate a dairy in this area.”

Hahn Niman and her husband, Bill Niman, did not participate in the settlement and have sued the National Park Service over its decision to prohibit agricultural operations on 28,000 acres at Point Reyes National Seashore.