Background:

Matthew Polvorosa Kline is a wildlife photographer and filmmaker (@polvorosa_kline) who has been documenting the lives of Tule Elk in Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) for over 15 years. These magnificent animals have had a profound impact on him and he wants to speak up on their behalf - “I have witnessed far too much pain, suffering and unnatural death afflicted upon these beautiful animals. I continue to document and speak up about this tragedy, one that has already claimed the lives of hundreds of these elk thus far. It was my firsthand observations that led to a lawsuit against the National Park Service for their neglect and mismanagement of these elk back in 2021, the same year I later founded Mission Rewild to further assist in these endeavors.”

Further Information:

The rare and iconic Tule Elk, a flagship species endemic (native) to California, was once thought to be extinct. Today a few thousand of these majestic wild mammals still survive in a number of disconnected “islands” scattered through the state. This remains a sad representation of what was once a population of 500,000 animals not long ago.

In the only National Seashore on the entire West Coast - Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS), one such disconnected herd of Tule Elk continues to suffer catastrophic die-offs most noticeably observed during ever-more frequent drought years. This is actually preventable.

The Tomales Point Tule Elk that we are referring to are inhumanely forced to try and survive behind an 8ft tall woven wire fence inside a so-called “reserve.” They are unnaturally prevented from roaming elsewhere in the National Seashore when poor conditions on the ground in the form of inadequate water supplies, a lack of adequate forage and essential minerals exists. Hundreds of these wild, beautiful, social, and intelligent Tule Elk have suffered and died as a result of this horrific enclosure. This fence that keeps these wildlife from being free might have a place in a zoo, but it has no place in a National Park.

This is our public land. These Tule Elk have suffered enough. We implore the National Park Service (NPS) to remove the entire 8ft tall fence and refrain from putting any fencing or other obstructions in its place. We ask the NPS to heal the scar that this fence has left not only on the land but on its wild inhabitants. The NPS in PRNS should protect the very unique wildlife with which they have been entrusted - Free the Tule Elk and help us take down the fence once and for all.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration, please help us by signing and sharing this petition.

Also please support our grassroots efforts (we don’t get paid for this) and stay updated by following us on social media and learning more about this issue here:

Website - www.MissionRewild.org

Instagram - @mission_rewild