The proposal to convert Santa Rosa Island into a private hunting
reserve for the armed forces, retired veterans, and their friends
and family is once again under consideration in Washington, D.C.
after Republican Representative Duncan Hunter from El Cajon
introduced the bill for a third time last week. The plan would
vastly reduce public access to the national park, while
simultaneously expanding the deer and elk hunting currently in
place on the island for the armed services’ enjoyment. The House’s
Armed Services Committee approved the bill early last week, but
just days later California Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne
Feinstein introduced a resolution that would effectively squash it.
The Boxer/Feinstein plan declares that all of the Channel Islands
remain open to the public and that the National Park Service retain
its right to govern the park. The private deer and elk hunts on
Santa Rosa are set to stop in 2011.
