Congress Probes Last-Minute Biden Deal to Shut Down Calif. Farms

The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee has opened a probe into a last-minute Biden administration deal that is forcing farmers off national park lands they'd been leasing from the government in California.

The Washington Free Beacon reported the Nature Conservancy helped broker the deal to push farmers off the property in return for undisclosed payouts and nondisclosure agreements.

The Beacon reported House members on the committee sent a letter to the Conservancy looking for more information about the deal with the farmers. The letter read, "The committee is concerned not only with the lack of transparency surrounding the settlement but also with the environmental and legal consequences the settlement may impose."

The National Park Service posted about the land deal in early January. "This is an exciting moment for Point Reyes National Seashore. Thanks to agreements between TNC and the closing ranch operations, the park's future management will include additional opportunities for visitors, nonlethal management of native tule elk, and honors the co-stewardship agreement with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria."

The Los Angeles Times reported on the long history of farming and ranching on the land that is now a national park. At least one of the ranchers, according to the Times, has called on the Trump administration to block the agreement from being enforced.

• Plastics Seeping Into Fields, Food and Bodies
• The Lowdown on Beef Tallow