REP. HUNTER TRYING TO TURN NATIONAL PARK INTO EXCLUSIVE HUNTING PRESERVE:

[rodeodance]

-- Original Message --------
Subject: Progress Report: Strategic Redeployment 2.0
Date: Wed, 03 May 2006 12:40:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: American Progress Action Fund <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
To:

CONGRESS -- REP. HUNTER TRYING TO TURN NATIONAL PARK INTO EXCLUSIVE HUNTING PRESERVE: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, is "reviving a controversial proposal" to allow members of the military and "special guests" (perhaps members of Congress and high-powered lobbyist types?) to hunt deer and elk on a national park island off California. Last year, Hunter quietly tried to move control of Santa Rosa Island (40 miles off the coast of Santa Barbara) from the National Park Service to the Pentagon, but withdrew the plan after stiff opposition. He will reportedly revive his efforts today as the committee he chairs takes up a major defense spending bill. Hunter's spin is that he wants to "permit disabled veterans" and others "to hunt and participate in other recreational activities" on the island, and also prevent the "extermination" of the game. But critics, including Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), in whose district the island is located, point out that "military personnel already can visit the park, just like the general public." Moreover, the National Park Service "says hunting restricts public access and makes it harder to promote native species like the endangered island fox." As Capps said last year, "All Americans should have access to the Channel Islands National Park, not just top military brass, members of Congress and folks who can pay thousands of dollars to go on private hunting trips."

[phusion]

1. what an asshole...

hope he gets shot down like last time.

[maveric]

17. He IS an asshole who's been taking kickback from San Diego defense...

contractors for years. If you thought that Cunningham was dirty....this guy is worse!

[MADem]

2. Come ON...and his name is HUNTER???????

What an asshole.

Christ, this sounds like the old USSR...where only the senior party members could have access to certain areas.

Fuck him. And the elk he rode in on.

[shain from kane]

18. The King's deer from Robin Hood's days. n/t

[bluethruandthru]

3. Maybe they can just round up all the animals

in the park and put them in pens. That way the weekend warriors with the money to pay for these hunts can just stand and shoot. Will he be implementing his private hunting policy before or after he sells the naming rights to the park?

What a load of crap!:wtf:

[Solo_in_MD]

5. The animals in question are not native, are tearing things

up and have to go. Something has to be done. Professional hunters, Ted Nugent, or equivalent. Still this smacks of special privledge.

[Skittles]

9. solving the problem with a bunch of cowards is not the answer

hunters make me sick

[noonwitch]

15. We had a problem with deer overpopulating and spreading disease

in the Detroit area metroparks-usually in the more rural parts of the area. The park authorities opened the parks affected up to hunting to anyone with a valid hunting license, as long as they turned in all their kills (because of the TB that deer carry).

I don't have a problem with hunting, so I have no problem with this, except that the hunting should be open to all citizens of the state with hunting licenses.

[Beaverhausen]

16. Tearing things up? Isn't it an uninhabited island?

There has to be another way to curb the population without killing them willy nilly.

[Solo_in_MD]

20. They are very hard on the local species

which is why they need to go/be reduced considerably. The non native species are not endangered or otherwise protected. Some of the local ones are.

Its clear I should have used the sarcasm tag about Ted Nugent...it doesn't matter to me how the thinning is done, but some has to be done before the ecological damage is irreversible

[The Stranger]

19. Ecosystem-wide problems are not solved by rednecks with shotguns.

God help us.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

4. Collossal. Arrogant. Prick.

:argh:

[Divernan]

6. It's very significant that this is not in HIS district!

Unbelievable chutzpah for a member of congress to try to legislate a matter which is totally in another member's district. That he would dare to try this tells you how far the tradition of civility within the Congress has deteriorated under Bush.

The other infuriating aspect is that Congress cuts funds for medical care of vets but he's going to "permit disabled veterans" to hunt. Bullshit. Notice he says, "permit", not pay for. However, those damn lobbyists will be lining up to take the good old boy politicians for exclusive hunting trips. And just imagine, these animals were not hand or farm raised, but actually WILD animals. For cowardly clowns like Cheney, hunting a bunny rabbit which grew up in the wild must constitute an XTREME sport.

What a miserable excuse for a human being this man is.

[havocmom]

7. Elk? Anybody know if elk are indigenous to Santa Rosa Island?

I sorta have doubts about that. Those islands are not natural home to a mess of species.

More canned hunts for rich guys still looking for something they haven't figured out that money can't buy?

Yeah, there seems to be a move afoot to make my area into a playground for the rich who wanna play Bwanna but not get the shots to go to other continents. Some damn fools are trying to convince people Montana would be a great place to put African elephants and lions! Guess they never spent a winter around here.

[Divernan]

8. The elite have gotten so wealthy, it's hard to figure out how to spend $$$

nt

[Solo_in_MD]

21. They are not

and that is the crux of the issue. The non native species are making it really hard for the local ones and need to be reduced/removed before permanent ecological damage is done.

[havocmom]

22. Did some idiot put elk on Santa Rosa?

Haven't been to the beach in a while. What the hell is shakin on the Channel Islands? :shrug:

[Solo_in_MD]

23. Been a while since I was out there too

but on all the islands, the people who owned them brought non native species out there to "enhance" the area. Buffalo on Catalina comes to mind. There have been ecological issues like this on San Clemente and San Nicholas as well.

[Tuesday_Morning]

10. what an asshole

[babylonsister]

11. Cheney will like this; maybe they'll use 'Murikans for bait. nt

[Beaverhausen]

12. I say we let hunters loose to hunt each other

Now THAT would be a real sport.

[TX-RAT]

13. Have the military been using the island in the past?

[biscotti]

14. I hope he

gets tied to Cunningham Abramoff scandal. I can not stand "Mr. Lemon Chicken Pilaf" served at Guantanamo.