Hands Off Santa Rosa Island, Board Says

Ventura County supervisors Tuesday roundly criticized a California congressman's attempt to designate Santa Rosa Island as a recreational hunting ground for the military and voted unanimously to oppose any future attempts to remove the island from the National Park Service.

Although Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) in December withdrew a defense bill amendment that would have transferred Santa Rosa Island -- the second-largest of the five islands that make up Channel Islands National Park -- from the National Park Service to the Department of Defense, his staff said last week that he intends to introduce a revised version of the measure later this year.

Supervisor Judy Mikels said the National Park Service bought the island in 1986 for $30 million with the agreement that elk and deer hunting would cease in 25 years.

She called Hunter's efforts a "ploy" to continue hunting beyond 2011.

"The military doesn't want this island," Mikels said. "Hunter is trying to hide behind our men and women in uniform for something that is absolutely dishonest."

Removing Santa Rosa Island from Channel Islands National Park would be "absurd," Supervisor Kathy Long said.