Decisions made behind closed doors for farm workers working on leased farms in the Point Reyes National Seashore not only leave them unemployed but also without housing.

Two of these families filed a lawsuit to have a seat at the table in these negotiations.

The closed-door negotiations, which have been going on for months, include the National Park Service, representatives of environmental groups challenging federal decisions to extend historic farm leases, and farmers who hold those leases.

Details of the progress of these talks were thin, and this is not unusual. Unfortunately, the public should not be left in the dark when it comes to public policy.

This includes farmers and ranchers whose livelihoods and homes may be held in balance during these private negotiations.

Two of those families are represented by Marin attorney Andrew Giacomini, whose family has long ties to West Marin’s farming community. He expects his client list to grow. Farm owners help him reach potential customers.

About 78 people live on farms and ranches in the park, said township Supervisor Dennis Rodoni, who learned this figure from someone close to the negotiations.

These are 78 people who may lose their livelihoods and suddenly have to find housing in places where affordable housing is rare.

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, spoke in favor of the move to include farm workers in the talks.

The talks relate to a lawsuit filed by environmental groups — the Resource Restoration Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Western Watershed Project — challenging the park’s updated management plan, which includes extensions of long-term leases for dairy and cattle farms. The lawsuit alleges that agricultural activities pollute the federal park.

The park plan echoes a 2012 decision by then-Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who closed the long-running private oyster farm in Drakes Estero and strongly emphasized that the leases would continue.

“Farming operations have a long and important history on the Point Reyes peninsula and will be continued on the Point Reyes National Seashore. “I have instructed the superintendent to work with the operators of these farms to ensure that sustainable agricultural production continues and plays an important role in the local economy,” Salazar said in announcing his decision.

Many Marin environmental groups supported Salazar’s pledge and farms in the park.

He recognized the fragile economic balance that supports agriculture in West Marin, the dairies and farms that have been part of the fabric of our county for decades.

In the lawsuit, Giacomini, the son of the late county Supervisor Gary Giacomini and a strong advocate for West Marin agriculture, reminds the court that there are families whose lives could be significantly affected by the decisions made in these private conversations.

Giacomini, a board member of the nonprofit Farmworkers and Families Housing Committee, hopes the parties will agree and include them.