Mule deer exterminated by Dems...

[AspenAdventures]

PROVISION BY SENATORS BOXER AND FEINSTEIN PASSES SENATE--
WILL EXTERMINATE ALL SANTA ROSA ELK AND MULE DEER

Last month, President George W. Bush signed the "2007 Defense Authorization Act," which included an NRA-supported provision saving hundreds of elk and mule deer on Santa Rosa Island from the court-ordered extermination that was to begin in 2008 and be completed by 2011.

However, this week an amendment by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Ca.), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.), passed the Senate, and, if accepted by the House, will result in the overturning of current law and assure the extermination hundreds of healthy elk and mule deer on the island, off the coast of California. This action is not about public access or whether these animals should be hunted and by whom.

Siding with environmental extremists, Senators Boxer and Feinstein claim that the Kaibab deer and Roosevelt elk on Santa Rosa Island are destroying natural vegetation and thus, should be indiscriminately exterminated. The provision calls for the deer and elk to be killed en-masse. NRA-ILA opposes the indiscriminate extermination of these animals.

NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox stated, "In a blatant attempt to slaughter these animals - for absolutely no good purpose - Senators Boxer and Feinstein claim to 'correct a terrible mistake.' The only irreversible mistake in this situation is if these elitist politicians are allowed to kill healthy and robust animals for political purposes."

Santa Rosa Roosevelt elk and Kaibab mule deer are unique and invaluable, as they are free from Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and other ailments that threaten the species on the mainland. Forty miles of Pacific Ocean offer them a sanctuary from disease. The healthy and thriving herds can be used as breeding stock to repopulate in case of disaster on the mainland.

Cox concluded, "This is not about hunting - this is about political pandering and payback."



"One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

 

[theridge]

Typical anti-hunting liberals. I want to puke. Destroying the vegitation? If the animals were destroying and depleteing the groceries the big game would be somewhat emiciated. NOT! It's bullsh!t.

 

[COLO3D]

And so it begins..............

 

[caelkhnter]

The article says passed by the Senate and if passed by the house........sooooooooo I guesss we should all write our house reps to let them know we oppose this??? From the article it seems it is not a done deal yet. I know , I know, what little good it may do, but we should try right?

 

[manny15]

I've known about this for several years now, the elk are truly healthy but I think the muleys are inbred just a little too much by now, 15 years ago you would see trophy bucks coming off the island now just rag horns...

MUM outfitter have exclusive hunting rights till then and charge about $5,000 to hunt them deer?

 

[txhunter58]

Regardless of whether or not it passes both houses, Bush would have to sign it to become law, uless it passes by a veto proof margin. Not likely I would assume.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)

 

[DEERSLAM]

manny, Stan Atwood took the largest buck, 253", to ever come off of Santa Rosa Is. just last year.
MIKE

 

[manny15]

>manny, Stan Atwood took the largest
>buck, 253", to ever come
>off of Santa Rosa Is.
>just last year.
> MIKE


was he hunting with MUM..?... the last 4 years all i've seen were dinks...

 

[thebuckstopshere]

PLEASE

The "release" above is not news. It is a release from the NRA. Now, I love hunting, and I love deer and elk, but the MDF has a lot more facts about this on their website:

http://www.muledeer.org/news/Region...osa Island, CA Perspectives_Meulengracht.html

The fact is, this NRA press release is replete with mis-information. Ie, AZ and Texas won't take the Mulies from CA.

My point is, just don't believe everything - regardless of where it comes from.

 

[manny15]

RE: PLEASE

Perspectives on Conservation

Bob Meulengracht, Regional Director
October, 2006

To bring this discussion into perspective, I feel it necessary to define a couple of items. First, we all know (or should know) that the mission of the Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) is to ?ensure the conservation of mule deer, blacktail deer and their habitat.? I was taught in college that conservation is defined as simply as ?stewardship.? We could say the mission of MDF is to ?ensure the ?stewardship? of mule deer, blacktail deer and their habitat.? Second, MDF is a non-profit conservation organization with a tax designation of 501(c)(3) by the IRS. This designation limits what MDF can do as far as the political process and as a lobby.

Almost weekly we, the MDF staff, are approached by members, other conservation organizations, and the general public to ?help carry the flag? of a cause they are interested in. Many of these calls are about a localized situation that will affect only local deer. One situation that is not only local in scale but is having significant impacts throughout the west is the energy development occurring throughout the west, and MDF is currently looking at the best way for us to address this issue on a large landscape scale.

Some of the localized issues are a road closure in an area where a particular hunter deer hunts. Personally, I have spoken with a gentleman about the installation of a wind generator on the mountain where he hunts. All of these are concerns, but in the grand scheme of mule deer conservation, they are small issues affecting only a localized herd or group of deer. Rich Fletcher (former MDF Board member and current California State Co-Chair) put this into perspective. Rich stated in a recent e-mail ?In order to be effective, MDF must carefully evaluate these types of situations to remain focused and effective in the best interests of western deer.?

One such localized issue is the Santa Rosa Island deer herd. For those of you unfamiliar with this issue, a herd of deer resides on Santa Rosa Island, CA. The Vail & Vickers, Ltd. privately owns the mule deer on the island. The deer were introduced in the 1920?s and are descendents of the famous Kaibab deer herd. In 1980, Congress declared the Channel Islands, of which Santa Rosa Island is one, a National Park. In 1986 the National Park Service (NPS) took control of Santa Rosa Island. Prior to the island being part of the National Park System, Vail & Vickers, Ltd. ran a successful cattle operation as well as private deer and elk hunting on the island. Since the deer and elk are non-native to the island, the NPS wants them removed from the Island. The deer were scheduled to be eliminated from the island by 2011. The hunting operation on the island is managed by Multiple Use Managers. It should be noted that elk reside on the island too and were also scheduled to be eliminated.

After receiving several inquiries about this situation, Eddie Reynoso (MDF Regional Director in CA) was directed to make a few contacts and make an assessment of the situation. The following is a synopsis of those telephone conversations.

In speaking with the National Park Service (NPS), MDF was informed that the deer and the elk are destroying a plant species found only on the Channel Islands. This and the fact that the animals are non-native is the main driving force behind the removal plan.

Multiple Use Managers informed MDF that Vail & Vickers, Ltd. tried to fight the removal, but were denied by the court. Vail & Vickers, Ltd. presented information stating that no studies had been done to confirm what the NPS was claiming about the destruction of the plants by the ungulates.

California Game and Fish Dept. (CADG&F) was contacted regarding the situation on Santa Rosa Island. Mr. Craig Stowers, a biologist for the Department, confirmed the deer and elk were privately owned by the Vail & Vickers Company and that Multiple Use Managers ran the hunting operations. He stated that CADG&F was not responsible for the management of the deer on the island due to their being on private property. He also informed MDF that CADG&F had not been approached about relocating the animals and that as far as he knew two groups, one from Arizona and one from Texas, had discussed trying to relocate the deer but may have encountered problems with those states over concerns of disease or other issues.

As of early October 2006 the United States Senate and House of Representatives had agreed to language in the 2007 Defense Authorization Act that saves the deer and elk from a court ordered eradication. As you can guess this has caused a rash of threats of lawsuits and unhappy U.S. Senators and Representatives promising to propose legislation to have the deer and elk removed.

This situation presents MDF with no easy answers. First, this is a privately owned deer herd and the owners have not approached the Foundation to get involved in the situation. Secondly, if MDF were to get involved in situations like this, it would likely require resources beyond what the Foundation currently has at our disposal. Lastly, and the most important question is, should MDF get involved in situations such as the Santa Rosa Island deer and elk eradication/litigation forsaking most or all other mule deer issues throughout the west? I say this because this situation would require a very significant amount of funding and time that are currently being allocated to projects/conservation throughout the west. Finally, I bring you back to the mission of MDF to ?ensure the conservation (read ?stewardship?) of mule deer, blacktail deer and their habitat.? And again I would like to quote a recent e-mail from Rich Fletcher, ?I personally encourage our members to speak out on game management decisions, but, based upon my knowledge, the conflict between the owners of the Santa Rosa Island?s deer and the National Park Service falls outside this organization?s arena.?

In closing, I would like to let you know that it is your right and obligation to get involved, as an individual, with the management of our deer herds. If you have a personal opinion on the Santa Rosa Island deer herd I encourage you to do your research and then contact your local Representative or Senator. We need to remember that because of MDF?s mission and tax status there are certain issues, like the current situation with Santa Rosa Island, that the Foundation will not be able to get involved with. Should you have concerns, whether local or regional in scope, with regards to mule deer or blacktail deer issues please contact your Regional Director. If you want or need more information on the Santa Rosa situation please contact me at 303-384-0103 or Eddie Reynoso at 559-679-8463. We will keep our finger on the pulse of this situation and possibly at a later date this will be a situation that MDF will need to get involved with.

 

[manny15]

RE: PLEASE

So in short the MDF only get involved with issues that are affordable?..

like putting in water guzlers ect:...

 

[TripleK]

And here's yet another point of view. This was posted on the campfire forum where there is a thread on this same topic.

There is alot more to it than just stopping a hunting preserve. There is always more to it though. Always another side of the story. Not just the NRA's blatantly biased press release.

According to this article, the Congressman who wants to save the island wants to take it out of the National Park System and turn it into an exclusive retreat...and one of the main reasons anyone was against it was because he tried to sneak it in as a last minute ammendment to the defense appropriations bill (the 2nd time he'd tried to slip it by). Another Republican Senator told him that if he tried to keep it on there, it could jeopardize the whole appropriations bill, so he withdrew it. THAT'S why it was not opposed and not passed (and not JUST Dems opposed it).

I'd hate to see all the animals exterminated, but I'd hate to see it turned into an exclusive, private, "A List" hunting preserve even more.


Why Does Duncan Hunter Want to Steal A National Park
by shadowgov


Wed Dec 21, 2005 at 11:04:55 AM PST
Congressman Duncan Hunter (CA-52) has had a pretty high media profile lately. In just the last few weeks, Hunter, who is Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, opposed the McCain anti-torture amendment; proposed building a fence along the entire US-Mexico border and the study of a similar barrier for the Canadian border; AND attempted to steal 53,000 acres of the Channel Island National Park.

Duncan has been a busy, busy boy, lately. Of course being a close associate of Cunningham pay-for-play Co-conspirator #1, Brent Wilkes, may be part of Hunter's inspiration to change the subject in public.

shadowgov's diary :: ::
Hunter's opposition to McCain's anti-torture legislation was motivated by his desire to serve his masters in the Bush Administration and possibly to provide cover for one of his major corporate contributors and torture investigation subject, the Titan Corporation.

Hunter has long been a proponent of sealing the Mexican border. His efforts lead to miles of fence in the San Diego area. This, of course, just pushed illegal border crossing out into the less inhabited areas of San Diego and Imperial counties. Since the fences were built illegal immigration has increased, but facts don't get in the way of a Republican when he has a wedge issue to exploit.

Yet, Hunter's proposal to turn Santa Rosa Island over to the Department of Defense seems bizarre, even by the very low standards of San Diego county Republicans. The island makes up over 40% of a national park that serves about half a million visitors a year, but Hunter is proposing that it be converted into a hunting and recreation preserve for the military and their guests. When pressed on the issue he even went so far as to propose the island be established as a hunting preserve for disabled veterans.

Santa Rosa Island was privately owned until 1986 when the Federal government bought the island from the Vail and Vickers Company for $30 million. Vail and Vickers is a family business that has run cattle ranching and, more recently trophy deer and elk hunting, operations on the island since 1902. Part of the government purchase agreement allowed Vail and Vickers to continue their hunting operation on the island until 2011.

The hunting operation provides well heeled hunters the opportunity to bag trophy Roosevelt elk and Kaibab mule deer from herds managed to provide the maximum number of such animals. Neither the elk nor the deer are native to the island. They were transported the 40 miles from the mainland for the specific purpose of establishing a hunting preserve. The going rate for hunting on the island ranges from $5,000 to as much as $20,000 for a four day visit.

It is interesting that Hunter's proposal would turn the island over to the Department of Defense in 2009. As the purpose of the land grab is to provide recreation and hunting to the military and any fat cat congressional guests they might invite along, it looks like Hunter's motivation might be to maintain the island hunting concession, while freezing out the general public.

Hunter might even be able to argue that the island hunting concession could pay for much of the military's recreational use, if it were allowed to continue its commercial business. So, in essence, Hunter's proposal would transfer the island from public use to private use while maintaining the hunting concession. Ron Sundergill, Pacific Regional Director, National Parks Conservation Association, suggested as much in an article he wrote about Hunter's proposal.


"We can only guess that the reason this is being proposed is to protect the commercial interest that operates the elk and deer hunting venture on the island. The owners of the venture, whose family sold the island to the federal government in 1986 for nearly $30 million, will be required to end their commercial activities in 2011. The timeline for ending the elk and deer hunting results from a legally binding agreement between the National Park Service and the National Parks Conservation Association, but the owners of the hunting venture strongly objected to the agreement."

Could it be that this whole deal is as transparent as that? Is Hunter really proposing that a national park serving hundreds of thousand visitors a year be taken out of the public realm and locked up by the Department of Defense just to serve the narrow self-interests of small commercial venture?

Hunter attached his island take-over amendment to the defense appropriation bill. Just a few words in a multi-billion dollar spending package. This is the second time Hunter has tried to slip this proposal through Congress. In May, Democrats and environmental groups thwarted his first attempt. This time, Republican Senator John Warner, told Hunter that pushing forward with this proposal would jeopardize the passage of the entire appropriations bill. Hunter withdrew the amendment, but vowed to present the proposal again when Congress reconvenes next year.

The Sacramento Bee editorialized about Hunter's persistent efforts to take Santa Rosa Island back from the public.


"This is an insult to the national park system and for the efforts put into properly managing these islands. Last-minute amendments are no way to enact proposals like this. California's two senators say the military never asked for Santa Rosa Island as an exclusive retreat; regardless, they say they would never support such a fate for the island. It is not Duncan Hunter's to give away."
Why does Duncan Hunter want Santa Rosa Island? The Department of Defense has never asked for the island. In fact, the Department of Defense is closing military facilities all over the country. Many of these military bases, which the DOD still controls could easily be converted to the use Hunter proposes for Santa Rosa Island. These facilities are far more accessible and developed than an island 40 miles off the California coast.

So, why does Duncan Hunter persist in his efforts to take Santa Rosa Island away from the public? Whose interest is he serving?

 

[manny15]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-19-06 AT 12:23PM (MST)[p]

Boy was I wrong, this is the first big deer I've seen coming off the island, MUM brochure?s only showed dinks...at least the one they gave me a few years ago...

 

[manny15]

read this"

Dear Manny:
Thank you for your interest in our hunting program on Santa Rosa Island. If you would like to be put on our mailing list, your last name would be appreciated.

With regard to openings for trophy bucks on the island, we currently do not have any openings for any of our trophy hunts. We book five years out, and are booked through 2010. We have a very extensive wait/cancellation list with over 600 hunters on it.

We do invite you to take a look at our website at www.mumwildlife.com or call the office at 800-557-7087 with anymore questions you might have.

Best regards,

Laurie Shacknove

 

[JFWRC]

So how difficult and costly will it be to move some of these animals? Can state's wildlife officials be hired to pre test animals prior to movement? Damn, I'd love to see some of those genes in NM.

 

[eelgrass]

Sounds pretty discouraging. The same odds as drawing a lot of tags. At least they don't give you a $10 application to fill out, non-refundable of course, like a lot of States do.

Eel

 

[manny15]

>Sounds pretty discouraging. The same odds
>as drawing a lot of
>tags. At least they don't
>give you a $10 application
>to fill out, non-refundable of
>course, like a lot of
>States do.
>
>Eel

When I looked into their outfit it was 2-year waiting list and $5,000.00 and as I said the brochure had nothing but mediocre bucks in it...

 

[derquhart]

As anti-bral as i am....The National Park System bought the land from a private owner in the early 90's i believe it was. All of the deer/elk on the island are not natural, all were brought in (the deer were derived from the kaibab). Anyhow, when the NPS bought the land there was an agreement that all non-native game would be removed/exterminated by 2011 because it was hurting the population of natural animals/plants. So, it sucks but it is the agreement that was made. I have looked into hunts on the island, currently deer hunts are $8500 and elk are slightly higher (tule elk strain) and they are booked through the 2010 season. I think they are trying to allow veterans to hunt before they take everything off the island.

 

[derquhart]

Mediocre? There are LOTS of bucks over 30" and scoring close to 200" coming off santa rosa island. They deer heard was imported from the kaibab.

 

[kilbuc]

Correction....Roosevelt subspecies.

from the "Heartland of Wyoming"

 

[huntsonora]

>So how difficult and costly will
>it be to move some
>of these animals? Can state's
>wildlife officials be hired to
>pre test animals prior to
>movement? Damn, I'd love to
>see some of those genes
>in NM.

Wouldnt do any good, NM has some of the best genes anywhere. The problem in NM is how the deer are managed.

Drum

 

[huntindude]

If there are plants on that island that are found nowhere else the deer and elk are as good as gone, while I don't care about some stupid plant on some island and I'd rather see the game left there I can tell you the plants will win. this is not a republican vs. democrat thing as it's been made out to be it's the law and it should probably be changed.