The farm was originally owned by the Johnson family. When the land was bought by the National Parks Service in 1972, the family was given a 40-year lease. The law stated that the land be classified as "wilderness" when the lease expired which means it was to be afforded the highest level of protection from "intrusive human activity."
The Johnsons sold the farm in 2004 to the Lunny family with full disclosure that the lease would expire in 2012. The Lunnys also signed a special use permit in 2008 which stated that they understood that commercial shellfish operations would only be allowed through November 2012.
The Lunnys decided to roll the dice and see if they could negotiate their way around federal law. Unsurprisingly, they've lost so far. The good news for them though - they do have the ear of a Senator who's willing to go to bat for them so they may win in the long run. It will likely come down to how successful the Senator is at working out a way around the law.
“wilderness” designation is only an excuse to shut out business, be it cattle ranching, like in New Mexico, forestry like in the northwest or coal like in Utah. They have been working at killing our economy for some time. People are only now starting to notice.