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Field Ethos
Guest
By Chad Adams
Right about now, we need California to do some of that California shit. And I know you know what I’m talking about. Instead, the powers that be in the state and on the island of Catalina are moving in a decidedly non-Cali conservation direction. They’re going to slaughter an entire species out of existence on Catalina Island.
California? Slaughter? For the uninformed, that surely doesn’t sound right.
After all, California is the state that heavily regulates and restricts cutting of trees and removal of deadfall to the point of wildfire inferno. California the restrictive, making it incredibly difficult to exercise 2nd Amendment rights. From single-use plastic bags to vehicle emissions to 30-round PMAGs, California always comes down on the side of restrictions and conservation and saving all God’s little creatures.
Unless we’re talking about a small, manageable population of mule deer.
Now Catalina Island, in the name of conservation, plans to move forward with an extensive plan to eradicate mule deer—completely. Though deer have flourished on the island for more than a century, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife approved the Catalina Island Conservancy’s radical restoration management permit recently.
“The permit clears the way for restoration work the island has needed for decades, and it allows us to take action at a transformative scale,” said Lauren Dennhardt, senior director of conservation for the Catalina Island Conservancy.
It comes down to this: the deer herd, believed to fluctuate between 500 and 1,800 annually, suffer from no natural predators on the island. The conservancy claims they also suffer from a lack of water and food, leading to over grazing of native vegetation.
So now the state has approved moving forward with a multi-year lethal removal plan, using ground-based “professional hunters” wielding rifles “in controlled operations under strict safety protocols.” That doesn’t sound very Cali.
The plan also calls for the donation of deer meat to go to the California Condor Recovery Program. Cool. Premium deer meat headed to what amounts to a big-ass, overgrown turkey vulture.
“The evidence of the severity of the threat the deer pose is overwhelming, and all other alternatives have been exhausted,” said Scott Morrison, director of conservation and science of The Nature Conservancy in California.
“Catalina Island can have either a functional, biodiverse and resilient ecosystem or it can have deer. It cannot have both.”
So according to these experts, completely eradicating the mule deer from the island is absolutely the only way to keep Catalina’s biosphere from crashing into oblivion.
Except not everyone believes this is true, including a Los Angeles County Supervisor.
“I remain strongly opposed to the Catalina Island Conservancy’s new proposal to eliminate the island’s mule deer population,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “… This revised plan—to bring in professional hunters to systematically slaughter the deer over the next five years—still represents a drastic and inhumane approach that ignores the values of many Catalina residents and visitors.
“These animals have been part of Catalina’s landscape for nearly a century, and the Conservancy should be attempting every possible alternative before resorting to their eradication. Options like expanded hunting seasons, relocation, or sterilization have not been fully pursued, and I believe those deserve real investment and consideration.”
“If Governor Newsom and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife care about science-based conservation, they will reject the Catalina Island Conservancy’s foolish deer mule eradication proposal immediately,” said SCI CEO W. Laird Hamberlin last year. “Proper management of the deer mule population via regulated hunting and other tried-and-true methods, not ill-founded aerial slaughter, will ensure ecological harmony on Catalina Island.”
“Mule deer have thrived on the Island for a century, while thousands of sportsmen and women have participated in regulated hunting seasons since then,” said SCI California Coalition’s Legislative Coordinator Lisa McNamee. “We stand ready to collaborate with the Department to create sustainable, pro-hunting deer and bison population management strategies once this proposal is no longer on the table.”
The most accomplished, accredited wildlife management system known to man continues to be the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. That model heavily relies on scientific data and sound wildlife management strategies to monitor and manage game, wildlife and other species—both flora and fauna—in balance and harmony.
Maybe let’s fully explore that before we just kill ‘em all.
Come on Cali. Get your shit together and save some animals.
The post Catalina Needs to Go Full Cali appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...
Right about now, we need California to do some of that California shit. And I know you know what I’m talking about. Instead, the powers that be in the state and on the island of Catalina are moving in a decidedly non-Cali conservation direction. They’re going to slaughter an entire species out of existence on Catalina Island.
California? Slaughter? For the uninformed, that surely doesn’t sound right.
After all, California is the state that heavily regulates and restricts cutting of trees and removal of deadfall to the point of wildfire inferno. California the restrictive, making it incredibly difficult to exercise 2nd Amendment rights. From single-use plastic bags to vehicle emissions to 30-round PMAGs, California always comes down on the side of restrictions and conservation and saving all God’s little creatures.
Unless we’re talking about a small, manageable population of mule deer.
The Catalina Mule Deer Situation
Now Catalina Island, in the name of conservation, plans to move forward with an extensive plan to eradicate mule deer—completely. Though deer have flourished on the island for more than a century, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife approved the Catalina Island Conservancy’s radical restoration management permit recently.
“The permit clears the way for restoration work the island has needed for decades, and it allows us to take action at a transformative scale,” said Lauren Dennhardt, senior director of conservation for the Catalina Island Conservancy.
It comes down to this: the deer herd, believed to fluctuate between 500 and 1,800 annually, suffer from no natural predators on the island. The conservancy claims they also suffer from a lack of water and food, leading to over grazing of native vegetation.
So now the state has approved moving forward with a multi-year lethal removal plan, using ground-based “professional hunters” wielding rifles “in controlled operations under strict safety protocols.” That doesn’t sound very Cali.
The plan also calls for the donation of deer meat to go to the California Condor Recovery Program. Cool. Premium deer meat headed to what amounts to a big-ass, overgrown turkey vulture.
“The evidence of the severity of the threat the deer pose is overwhelming, and all other alternatives have been exhausted,” said Scott Morrison, director of conservation and science of The Nature Conservancy in California.
“Catalina Island can have either a functional, biodiverse and resilient ecosystem or it can have deer. It cannot have both.”
So according to these experts, completely eradicating the mule deer from the island is absolutely the only way to keep Catalina’s biosphere from crashing into oblivion.
Except not everyone believes this is true, including a Los Angeles County Supervisor.
A Voice of Reason
“I remain strongly opposed to the Catalina Island Conservancy’s new proposal to eliminate the island’s mule deer population,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “… This revised plan—to bring in professional hunters to systematically slaughter the deer over the next five years—still represents a drastic and inhumane approach that ignores the values of many Catalina residents and visitors.
“These animals have been part of Catalina’s landscape for nearly a century, and the Conservancy should be attempting every possible alternative before resorting to their eradication. Options like expanded hunting seasons, relocation, or sterilization have not been fully pursued, and I believe those deserve real investment and consideration.”
“If Governor Newsom and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife care about science-based conservation, they will reject the Catalina Island Conservancy’s foolish deer mule eradication proposal immediately,” said SCI CEO W. Laird Hamberlin last year. “Proper management of the deer mule population via regulated hunting and other tried-and-true methods, not ill-founded aerial slaughter, will ensure ecological harmony on Catalina Island.”
“Mule deer have thrived on the Island for a century, while thousands of sportsmen and women have participated in regulated hunting seasons since then,” said SCI California Coalition’s Legislative Coordinator Lisa McNamee. “We stand ready to collaborate with the Department to create sustainable, pro-hunting deer and bison population management strategies once this proposal is no longer on the table.”
The most accomplished, accredited wildlife management system known to man continues to be the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. That model heavily relies on scientific data and sound wildlife management strategies to monitor and manage game, wildlife and other species—both flora and fauna—in balance and harmony.
Maybe let’s fully explore that before we just kill ‘em all.
Come on Cali. Get your shit together and save some animals.
The post Catalina Needs to Go Full Cali appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...
