I am joined in my support of the work on the Islands by mainstream conservation groups, including The Nature Conservancy, Center for Biological Diversity, League of Conservation Voters, Audubon Society, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and the Gaviota Coast Conservancy.  The National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Game and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as scores of leading biologists, ecologists, zoologists and professional resource managers also support these efforts. We all have reached the same conclusions on how best to save the endangered island fox and threatened bald eagle. 

To my knowledge, the News-Press opposition to these mainstream and experienced conservation voices is shared by one group, the Channel Islands Animal Protection Association, and my staff has met with its leader.

The work in progress on the Channel Islands is governed by two principles: the Park Service’s mission to preserve our natural and cultural heritage for future generations and the Endangered Species Act’s requirement to save wildlife and resources from extinction.

Restoring the ecological balance on the Santa Cruz Island isn’t easy or quick.  But, after extensive public review and consultation with environmental and conservation experts, the Park Service has developed a comprehensive and well-researched program to accomplish this goal. At issue is the need to save the endangered island fox from imminent extinction and to return bald eagles, another native species that is still threatened, to the Islands.

Complicating the recovery of the island fox is the presence of the non-native feral pigs and the golden eagles, neither of which is on the threatened or endangered species list.  The pigs attract golden eagles, which also eat the foxes. Restoring the island fox population will require a number of measures, including continuation of the 2-year-old captive breeding program, removal of feral pigs and relocation of the remaining golden eagles.

The captive breeding program is working. Forty island fox pups were born in captivity this year, a remarkable upswing for the endangered species.  However, when nine foxes were reintroduced onto Santa Cruz Island last year, golden eagles killed five shortly thereafter.

Golden eagles have decimated the island fox population, reducing it from 1,300 to fewer than 100 animals on Santa Cruz Island in the last decade. The Park Service and The Nature Conservancy have worked to stop the foxes’ extinction by safely trapping and removing golden eagles from the Islands.  More than three-quarters of the known golden eagle population has been relocated from the Islands since 1999.

The pigs also need to be removed from Santa Cruz Island.  Because of the potential diseases they could transfer to other livestock, pigs cannot be located to the mainland.  Nor is there a contraceptive for fast-breeding animals such as pigs.  In addition, the pigs are the key factor in the decline of nine federally listed unique plant species found only on Santa Cruz Island. 

Officials also are working to reintroduce bald eagles to Santa Cruz Island. The eagles dine on fish and carrion, rather than foxes.  And because bald eagles are fiercely territorial, they traditionally kept the golden eagles away from the Islands.  When DDT in the food chain killed the bald eagles decades ago, the golden eagles moved in. 

The news coverage on this issue in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press and even the Santa Barbara News-Press has been thoughtful and balanced. These articles have accurately reported what a complicated job the Park Service faces and how it has worked with wildlife experts to carefully craft a plan to save the island fox and return bald eagles to their traditional home on the Channel Islands.

Unfortunately, the News-Press editorial board ignores the scientific consensus about restoration of Santa Cruz Island.  It has done the same thing in railing against the removal of rats from Anacapa Island, which biologists say has safely and successfully protected rare seabirds.