Congressman wants California island open to hunting by military veterans

[question everything]

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Congressman wants California island open to hunting by military veterans

By: ERICA WERNER - Associated Press

CHANNEL ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK -- Brush-covered and wind-swept, accessible only by boat or plane, Santa Rosa Island seems worlds removed from the crowded Southern California coastline -- let alone from Washington, D.C.

Yet the 53,000-acre public island 40 miles off the coast of Santa Barbara is in the middle of a political tugging match between a powerful House committee chairman, the National Park Service and congressional Democrats.

Under a federal court settlement in place for close to a decade, private deer and elk hunts now staged on the island must end by 2011 and the nonnative game must be removed. But San Diego-area Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter wants to keep the trophy animals on the island so that military veterans can hunt them.

(snip)

The plan has drawn vehement protests from the Park Service and Democratic lawmakers, who said hunting blocks public access and interferes with indigenous plants and animals.

(snip)

Hunter's plan, which would mandate that the deer and elk stay on the island indefinitely despite the court settlement, was approved by the House last month as part of a major defense programs bill. The Senate version of the bill, passed Thursday, does not contain the Santa Rosa Island provision, and California Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer hope they can keep it out of the final bill that will be negotiated by a House-Senate conference committee.

(snip)

On the Net:

Channel Islands National Park: http://www.nps.gov/chis/


http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/06/25/news/state/16_50_556_24_06.txt

[Drum]

1. Oh, I thought it meant

like a half-way house, for returning vets. :shrug:

[Rose Siding]

2. So the Republicans want to give a caste system a spin?

[adriennui]

3. the republicand are for anything that entails killing

if it moves....kill it. leave the island alone. it's one of those gorgeous natural habitats that haven't as yet been fouled by people.

[aquart]

5. Of course, it's not like they'll be part of it.

I mean, it is for MILITARY VETERANS?

That said, I don't like the precedent, not one bit.

[gratuitous]

4. Maybe Hunter should keep the preserve for hunting by ex-cons

That way, he'll have a chance to go there for a little canned shooting, the kind some men seem to like.

[Scurrilous]

6. Meanwhile...

...a few miles up the coast there's Vandenberg AFB:

http://www.vandenberg.af.mil/~MSG/security_forces/fish_wildlife/outdoors/default.asp?HLMSG=y&HLSFS=y

Persons Authorized to Hunt on Vandenberg

Active duty, retired, and reserve military members; and prior active duty members who were discharged under the Voluntary Separation Initiative/Special Separation Benefit program (here in after referred to as VSI/SSB) who possess applicable service identification cards (as defined in AFI 36-3001, Issuing and Controlling of Identification Cards), Chumash Tribal Members, DoD civilian employees of Vandenberg AFB, NAF civilian employees of Vandenberg AFB, and AAFES civilian employees working on Vandenberg AFB.

Family members of active duty and retired military members who possess applicable dependent identification cards (as defined in AFI 36-3001) may also hunt.

Reserve military, VSI/SSB, Chumash Tribal Members, DoD personnel, NAF personnel, and AAFES employees must sign a 30 SW Form 112, Civilian General Liability Agreement, prior to hunting on Vandenberg AFB. Failure to sign a liability release will result in the immediate suspension of Vandenberg AFB hunting privileges.


Why can't the vets hunt at Vandenberg? How many places do they need?

[OwnedByFerrets]

8. I. too, am bothered greatly by

the precedent this would present.

[BrotherBuzz]

10. Even farther up the road is Hunter Liggett and Camp Roberts ...

both with hunting and access roads (albeit gravel). Why can't they establish a special hunt for our disabled veteran hunters?

[question everything]

11. Send this to Boxer and to Feinstein. Please (nt)

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. Use it as a prison camp for convicted Republican politicians, too

Let the military vets hunt them down instead of animals.

[SoCalDem]

9. Why not just neuter the animals, and just not "introduce" any new ones

Those animals did nto SWIM there or parachute in.. They were brought there, and have managed all these years to make it their home..

Isn't it amazing how republicans love to shoot things.. (people included)

[XemaSab]

20. They've got a very aggressive professional hunting operation

there now trying to extirpate the non-native pigs and other animals brought there by ranchers. They're having a helluva time FINDING the critters, let alone trapping and neutering them. If you only neuter some of the animals, the rest will breed to fill the gap.

There are a huge number of endemic species out there that need protecting from invasives.

I'm in favor of professional outfits declaring total war on invasives out there in order to protect the island ecosystem, not managing it as a hunting resort for the chosen few of any stripe.

[pecwae]

12. Will Hunter personally take a busload

of homeless vets with PTSD out there with locked and loaded rifles to do a little sport hunting? What BS! Vets have real needs that scream to be addressed and hunting isn't one of them.

[XemaSab]

21. You need to take a boat to get there

n/t

[pinniped]

13. This sounds like something that POS scumbag Pombo would....

pull.

I see he has a brother.

[Solly Mack]

14. I'm sure the legless, armless, blind, deaf and brain injured veterans

will appreciate this gesture so much more than say...actual benefits...you know, actual help.

Unreal. Fucking unreal.

Leave the park alone...and really do something for the vets by insuring they receive actual care...that their benefits aren't constantly eroded.

[leesa]

15. Oh I can just see these yahoos in his district, heavy vetren, heavy GOP

tearing up that island. They have zero respect for the land. They are the offroader type who tear up all the hills and deserts all over Southern California. They will destroy anything for their pleasure.
Duncan Hunter is a sick and twisted man. Wonder why he isn't in jail like his pal, Duke? They had the same contacts and engaged in the same practices.

[LibDemAlways]

16. I've lived near the Channel Islands for years and

never knew that hunting was permitted on Santa Rosa Island or that deer and elk were shipped in for that purpose. For God's sake, remove the non-native animals to the mountains on the mainland and leave the island alone. There are so few unspoiled places left, and, if idiots like Hunter (who doesn't even represent the district) had their way, there wouldn't be any.

[catzies]

17. Santa Rosa Island is in Lois Capps' district & she's against this

n/t

[question everything]

19. Won't be the first time that a member of congress

get the powerful machos overruling his/her opinion

So much for "get the government off one's back.."

[Guaranteed]

18. Would that violate the 14th Amendment? nt