Across the Santa Barbara channel, on a tiny island that you can see on a clear day from Ventura, there is an environmental debate brewing regarding nature vs. nurture, or something close to it. This debate occurs internationally as man encroaches upon natural habitats and creates artificial ecosystems for his own convenience.
Currently, on Santa Rosa Island there is a herd of elk (and deer too, which are different, but we will stick to discussing the elk to simplify the matter). These are non-native elk, imported at one time to bring “species diversity” to the island. This we now know is a no-no. Placing polar bears there would have done the same thing but people are comfortable with a generic idea of trees, bushes fox, sheep and deer, you know, like our idea of a forest and Bambi, so no one made a fuss at the time. We also seem to accept the killing of deer more readily than polar bears (think what you have seen in the way of trophy wall mounts).
These animals became a part of a “game hunting” operation on the island. Recently, due to a change of ownership, and our ideas of what is Politically Correct, a settlement required a portion of the elk be removed in 2008, removing them all totally off the island by 2011 as the herds' presence limits access to a national park.
Today there are 425 deer and 740 elk living there. Our Parks System says allowing the animals to stay isn't an option. The herds are damaging the island's cultural and natural resources, including a number of rare plants and animals.
We have decided to remove them, as we decided to place them on the island in the first place, but there is no place for them to go, except possibly heaven. Apparently, even if relocation were possible, the market for the elk has dried up and there are no potential buyers, say the past owner/operators of the island’s cattle ranch and game hunting program.
Leap now, if you will, to ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK Colorado. The elk there have altered the park’s ecosystem. A debate ensues. Should contractors or federal employees shoot them to reduce their population? Park officials recommended that the shooting be done at night with guns equipped with silencers and night-vision scopes to keep the “culling” out of public view. We don’t have this sneaky issue as we wouldn’t be able to see the mass murder on Santa Rosa without a really strong pair of binoculars. Another idea they propose is to license hunters rather than federal employees, but this is exactly what we have opposed!
As an alternative, they propose releasing wolves in the Colorado national park to thin the elk herds. Maybe we should do the same on Santa Rosa. Campers could get a feel for what it is to be a preyed-upon species, if only for a weekend. Maybe it would put things in perspective.
