Another Deer Slaughter brought on by Animal Huggers
Dave Strege, Orange County Register:
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Hundreds of deer and elk will be needlessly killed on Santa Rosa Island over the next four years.
Why?
A law that gave the animals a stay of execution last year was overturned by Congress on Monday, paving the way for the unconscionable slaughter of 1,100 Kaibab Mule Deer and Roosevelt Elk.
Leading the charge to exterminate the animals were Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, who apparently do not believe the public deserves to enjoy these majestic creatures.
If they did, they would have allowed the public a voice on the fate of the animals. They would have closely examined the facts and sought ways to save the animals.
Instead, they patted themselves on the back and erroneously claimed to have put an end to big-game hunting on the island and to have given the public full, year-round access to the island.
Their “victory” was a last-minute repeal of Rep. Duncan Hunter’s provision of 2006 that would have saved the animals from extermination.
This repeal was a legislative rider added to the FY08 Omnibus Appropriations Bill that President Bush is expected to sign in January.
The problem with the spin from the senators is, the hunting concession was already set to close at the end of 2011 and the public was going to enjoy 100 percent, year-round access from then on anyway.
The only thing Feinstein and Boxer succeeded in doing was to ensure the destruction of the deer and elk herds that have inhabited the island since the 1920s.
The Vail and Vickers families bought the island in 1901 and operated a cattle ranch. They imported deer and elk in the mid-1920s. In 1978, they began a big-game hunting concession to manage the population and increase revenue for the ranch.
The families reluctantly sold the island to the National Park Service in 1986 so it could be included in the Channel Islands National Park. But the park service agreed to allow the hunting operation and cattle ranch to continue for 25 years.
The hunting concession uses 90 percent of the 55,000-acre island from August to early December, though the guides inform park rangers where the hunts will take place so the public can access the remainder of the island.
An environmental lawsuit put an end to the cattle ranching in 1997 and in the settlement, the families agreed to start removing elk and deer in 2008 and have them all off the island by the end of 2011.
The families’ heirs, who weren’t a part of and didn’t approve of that agreement, have subsequently attempted to save the animals from being destroyed.
Timothy Vail appeared before a Congressional subcommittee in May to make a plea on behalf of the animals and to introduce scientific evidence that disputed claims that the non-native herds were destroying endangered habitat and threatening native animals.
Last year, unbeknownst to the families, Hunter introduced a provision that would make Santa Rosa Island a place where military members could hunt, but that got shot down. However, one simple provision remained and became law: “The Secretary of Interior shall cease the plan…to exterminate the deer and elk on Santa Rosa Island.”
Then, along came Feinstein and Boxer.
