New conservation plan seeks to shoot Catalina's deer on the ground instead of from helicopters

"This month, the California Island Conservancy announced a plan to rid the landscape of its entire nonnative deer population using contracted hunters, saying the animals increase the risk of wildfire. Last year, the conservancy - which manages 88% of the island - scrapped a proposal to shoot the deer from helicopters, facing community outrage and opposition from local representatives. This time around, professional contractors would shoot the island's estimated 2,165 deer on the ground with rifles, said Pepe Barton, communications director for the conservancy."

""When deer are eating native plants, those are being replaced by invasive annual grasses, and then those dry out quickly and burn easily," Barton said. "And then as a burn comes through, the native plants that are trying to grow back are eaten down again." "So you have to really kind of think of it as like a bad habit," he added. "The more it happens, the harder it is to break." Barton said January's devastating wildfires were a wake-up call."

Catalina Island Conservancy plans to remove the island's entire nonnative mule deer population of about 2,165 animals using contracted ground shooters to reduce wildfire risk and restore native vegetation. A prior proposal to shoot deer from helicopters was abandoned after community outrage and political opposition. Conservancy staff say heavy deer browsing replaces native plants with invasive annual grasses that dry quickly and heighten fire danger, creating a cycle that hinders native-plant recovery. Opponents raise humane concerns and suggest alternatives such as expanded recreational hunting, relocation, or sterilization. January wildfires prompted interior closures and canceled ecotours.

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