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Courtesy of SFGate.com | written by Bob Egelko

An oyster farm at Point Reyes in Marin County can stay open while its owner makes a last-ditch attempt to get the U.S. Supreme Court to extend its lease in waters that Congress has designated as a marine wilderness.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the federal government’s refusal to renew the lease of Drakes Bay Oyster Co., but Monday granted the company a 90-day stay to allow time for a Supreme Court appeal. The high court could grant further extensions while it decides whether to take up the case.

Drakes Bay operates California’s only oyster cannery. Its owner, Kevin Lunny, bought the company in 2005, seven years before the scheduled expiration of a 40-year lease in federal waters. A 1976 federal law reserved 2,500 acres of offshore land, including the oyster farm, as a wilderness area free of commercial activity once the lease expired.

Lunny, who describes the farm as an environmentally friendly operation important to the local economy, has lined up strong support in his campaign to renew the lease. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., steered a bill through Congress in 2009 that authorized the Interior Department to extend the lease for 10 years.

But then-Interior Secretary Ken Salazar denied a renewal in November 2012, saying the oyster harvesting didn’t fit Congress’ plan for a wilderness area. Most environmental groups have agreed with him, and two federal courts have ruled that the 2009 law made Salazar’s “informed decision” immune from judicial review.

The appeals court did not explain its order Monday, but under legal standards, it had to find at least a “reasonable probability” that the Supreme Court would accept the case for review.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to continue serving our community while the high court considers our case,” Lunny said in a statement.