Supervisor Hahn asks Gov. Newsom to halt Catalina Island deer eradication plan
In a last-ditch effort, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to halt the plan to eradicate mule deer from Catalina Island.
"Tomorrow, these deer could begin to be killed, and once they are gone, they are gone forever. Governor Newsom can still stop this, and I am asking him to act," Hahn said.
The Catalina Island Conservancy, the organization that manages and protects the area, has long said the deer are an invasive species brought to the island nearly 100 years ago. The nonprofit claimed that the wildlife has created a fire hazard by feasting on the native plant life. Once the deer are eradicated, the conservancy believes that the island's ecosystem would rebound
The controversial initiative to preserve the island's native habitat by killing the wild animals received approval from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in February.
"Habitat restoration and the well-being of Catalina Island, its residents, its visitors and the native ecosystems found nowhere else, guides everything we do," Conservancy Interim President and CEO David Solomon said earlier this month.
Hahn argued the opposite, claiming the deer decrease wildfire risk on the island. She said LA County Fire Chief Tony Marrone warned that the deer consume vegetation that may fuel a wildfire.
She pointed to the Santa Rosa Island fire earlier this year, which burned 18,000 acres after the deer population was eliminated.
"Santa Rosa Island is unpopulated, but Catalina is home to nearly 4,000 people, with thousands more visitors. We should not ignore our own Fire Chief's warning that removing the deer could increase wildfire danger," Hahn said.
The conservancy has been crafting its deer eradication plan for years, initially proposing to fly sharpshooters in helicopters to kill the deer. After the LA County Board of Supervisors rejected that proposal, the conservancy moved to its current plan of hiring professional hunters to kill the deer beginning on Sept. 1.
A broad coalition of wildlife groups and the California Rifle and Pistol Association opposed the plan and sued the conservancy and the CA DFW to stop it.
"We are asking the judge to issue a preliminary injunction halting the slaughter of Catalina Island deer while the issue of whether the restoration management permit was issued lawfully by CA DFW with proper legal review," said Robin Cassidy from the Coalition to Save Catalina Island Deer.
The hearing is scheduled for Sept. 1, the same day that the eradication will begin. The conservancy said it will move forward with the plan "unless legal proceedings require otherwise."
"Decades of scientific research has informed this plan and we are confident in both the science and the process behind the permit," Solomon said earlier this month. "We are committed to the work ahead to protect and restore Catalina Island for the people and native wildlife that depend on it."