Legislation and litigation for Santa Rosa Island
A new bill could ensure the island is closed to visitors several months a year
By Stacey Wiebe 10/05/2006
Legislation and litigation could be the responses to the passage of an annual defense bill that includes language allowing deer and elk hunting on Santa Rosa Island to continue past a previously court-ordered deadline of 2011.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, authored the language and attempted in 2005 to have the island turned over to the United States Department of Defense for the use of military personnel and their guests — and with the intention that the visitors would be allowed to hunt deer and elk, game that is not native to the island. Hunter now envisions the island as a part-time private hunting ground for active service members, military retirees and veterans groups.
The 50,000-plus-acre island is property of the National Park Service, which purchased the island in 1986 for $30 million from the Vail family. But Vail & Vickers, the Vail family’s company, still lays claim to the deer and elk. Until 1996, when the National Parks Conservation Association filed suit because of the continued hunting, the park service allowed the company to run a hunting business on the island.
The defense bill’s approval ensures that the deer and elk can remain on the island indefinitely, despite the protests of environmental groups that contend the legislation is a direct violation of the Endangered Species Act. The groups contend that the deer and elk disrupt the island’s natural balance.
According to Alan Sanders, conservation chair for the Los Padres Chapter of the Sierra Club, the island is home to endangered plant and animal life. Representatives from the National Park Service could not be reached for comment concerning the specifics of the island’s wildlife, or the implications of the legislation.
“This bill is really an indicator of how awry things can go,” said Sanders, who said the Sierra Club is investigating the possibility of litigation, but is hoping that new legislation will undo what he considers a grave mistake. “Our hope is that the new Congress will lead to new committee chairs. If that occurs, there’s the prospect that a new bill could be passed to save us all.”
Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, has publicly decried the inclusion of the Santa Rosa legislation in the defense bill and attempted unsuccessfully to have the language removed from the Defense Authorization Conference Report. “The inclusion of this ridiculous proposal in the Defense bill is a travesty,” Capps said. “Kicking the public off a National Park it paid more than $30 million for to continue indefinitely a lucrative private hunting operation is clear violation of the public trust. I will be introducing legislation to reverse this terrible provision.”
The existing legislation ensures that the island, if it is to remain a hunting ground, is closed off to visitors for several months a year simply for public safety.
“It’s much more difficult to remove what’s already in a bill,” said Emily Kryder, press secretary for Capps, of efforts by Capps to augment the language of the legislation.
Kryder went on to say that Hunter’s actions involving public land outside of his San-Diego-area jurisdiction were out of the ordinary. “It was very unusual to do this type of thing in another member’s district,” she said. “Regardless of what side of aisle, she’s (Capps) willing to listen to people — but she thinks this is a terrible idea.” Representatives from Hunter’s office could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Kryder said the island’s fox population is among the species at risk. “Having this non-native species is counter-productive concerning what the park service is attempting to do in terms of preservation and restoration,” she said. “There is a lot lost in continuing to have deer and elk on this island and not a lot to be gained.”
A letter submitted to Hunter in June by the United States Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, urges the deletion of the Santa Rosa legislation “in order to ensure the National Park Service is able to continue its progress toward the recovery of native species and providing year-round access for other recreational activities on Santa Rosa Island.”
Sanders said disappointment in the passage of the legislation extends beyond the borders of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. “The precedent that this has set is being noticed all over the country.”
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