Santa Rosa Island

These are wonderful times to be an island fox. A decade ago, the house-cat-sized animals were scampering toward extinction, with only a few dozen surviving at spots scattered around Channel Islands National Park. Now they're practically poster mammals for species revival, numerous enough that government scientists no longer have to breed them in the safety of chain-link pens.

A proposal that would allow continued big-game hunting in Channel Islands National Park appears doomed, to the delight of park supporters and the dismay of its chief backer. The controversial plan by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) was scuttled by a measure tucked into the half-trillion-dollar spending bill approved this week by the House of Representatives. The massive bill has yet to clear the Senate, but its approval there is expected.

A Ventura County supervisor Wednesday asked his board colleagues to join him in opposing any future efforts to give the military special hunting grounds on Santa Rosa Island. Supervisor Steve Bennett said U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) likely would renew his attempts to turn the island into a hunting and recreation haven for military personnel. He said the Ventura County Board of Supervisors should go on record against such legislation.

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.

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is reviving a controversial proposal to allow members of the military to hunt deer and elk on a national park island off the Ventura County coast. Opponents fear that the plan could limit public access to Channel Islands National Park and threaten native species. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) had backed off his plan to allow military hunting on 53,000-acre Santa Rosa Island after objections from senators last year.

Once again, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) has proposed legislation to continue deer and elk hunting on Santa Rosa Island past the existing end date of 2011 (May 2). If this legislation passes, almost all of the island will be off limits to all but a few. The island was purchased with public tax dollars so it could be open to all of us. The continued presence of these nonnative animals on the Channel Islands puts rare and endangered endemic plants and animals at risk of extinction.

Powerful Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) has won the first battle in his push to provide special hunting privileges for military personnel and disabled veterans on an island off the Ventura County coast. But California's two senators -- among others -- have vowed to defeat the proposal, which they helped derail last year.

A controversial plan to establish a hunting haven for disabled veterans on rugged terrain in Channel Islands National Park has already taken flak from the National Park Service, congressional Democrats, environmentalists and local governments in coastal California. Now, disabled veterans have joined in, shooting down the proposal for Santa Rosa Island that Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has said he crafted for their benefit.

Re "Island Hunting Plan Misses Target," Aug. 3 The proposal by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) for a military hunting preserve is a selfish land grab for hunters like himself who want a pristine and publicly isolated area for their personal hunts. His use of the emotionally charged issue of disabled American veterans is nothing more than camouflage to attain that goal. If he is truly sincere about helping disabled vets who want to hunt, then he should propose setting aside some of the thousands of acres of federal forest that are for sale and create a refuge with the proper facilities that could accommodate disabled veterans' needs.

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution Thursday opposing Rep. Duncan Hunter's plan to allow military veterans to hunt on Santa Rosa Island. Private hunts are allowed on the island but will end in 2011. Hunter (R-El Cajon), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, wants to keep deer and elk on the island. The National Park Service opposes the hunting plan. The resolution was sponsored by California's Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.