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Calendar No. 553
109th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 109-310
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CHANNEL ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK
_______
July 31, 2006.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Domenici, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. Res. 468]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the resolution (S. Res. 468) supporting the continued
administration of Channel Islands National Park, including
Santa Rosa Island, in accordance with the laws (including
regulations) and policies of the National Park Service, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the resolution do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE
The purpose of S. Res. 468 is to support the continued
administration of Channel Islands National Park, including
Santa Rosa Island, in accordance with the laws, regulations,
and policies of the National Park Service.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
In 1980, Congress included Santa Rosa Island within the
boundaries of the newly established Channel Islands National
Park. In the park's authorizing legislation (Public Law 96-
199), Congress made the Federal acquisition of Santa Rosa
Island a priority, requiring the Secretary to acquire lands on
the island as ``expeditiously as possible'' after the passage
of the Act.
In 1986, the National Park Service (NPS) purchased the
entire 54,000-acre island in fee simple title from Vail &
Vickers, Ltd. (V&V) for $29.5 million. Under the Park's
authorizing legislation, V&V was permitted to retain a 25-year,
non-commercial reservation of use and occupancy on a 7.6-acre
area containing the ranch house and a nearby field. In addition
to the use and occupancy lease, the NPS has also issued V&V a
series of 5-year Special Use Permits, allowing them to continue
prior activities, including cattle ranching and commercial deer
and elk hunting. The issuance of these permits was unusual:
Channel Islands National Park's establishing legislation does
not allow for hunting within the park. And, commercial
activities are not generally permitted within parks without a
concessions contract.
In May 1995, the California Regional Water Quality Control
Board issued a Clean Up and Abatement Order against the Park,
alleging violation of the Clean Water Act on Santa Rosa Island.
The Order charged that cattle and wild ungulates were
destroying streamside areas, increasing the rate of soil
erosion island-wide by an order of magnitude, and damaging
water quality. On July 25, 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS) proposed 8 plant species on Santa Rosa Island for
listing under the Endangered Species Act. In October 1996,
subsequent to the Clean Water Act violation and the proposed
plant species listing, the National Parks and Conservation
Association (NPCA) filed a lawsuit alleging that the National
Park Service was violating the Clean Water Act and the
Endangered Species Act by allowing V&V to continue to allow
cattle, deer, and elk to graze the island.
In response to the lawsuit, the park completed a Resources
Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement in May 1997
to address impacts of cattle grazing and conservation of rare
and endangered species on Santa Rosa Island. On July 31, 1997,
the FWS listed 8 plant species on Santa Rosa Island as
endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
In the fall of 1997, all parties involved (NPS, FWS, NPCA,
V&V) agreed upon a mediated Settlement approved by the court.
The Settlement Agreement required removal of almost all cattle
from the island by December 31, 1998. The Settlement Agreement
also established maximum numbers of deer and elk which could
remain on the island until 2011, if recovery goals for two
federally listed plant species could be met. V&V is required to
remove all deer and elk from the island by 2011.
V&V has removed cattle from the island on schedule. Since
the cattle left the island, park scientists have documented a
considerable improvement in water quality and the recovery of
streamside vegetation. Recovery goals for one of two endangered
plant species have been met. However, the continued presence of
deer fawns each spring on the island may be attracting golden
eagles which prey on the endangered Santa Rosa Island Swift
Fox.
Under the current Special Use Permit, V&V will manage a
commercial hunt for deer and elk each year. The current permit
is for the period October 1, 2003-December 31, 2008. Terms of
the current Special Use Permit are linked to the Settlement
Agreement. Hunts are operated by Multiple Use Managers, Inc.
which charges $9,000 to $16,500, plus trophy fees, for 4 to 5-
day hunts. There are approximately 80 trophy hunting clients
per year. NPS receives no revenue from the hunting operation.
The public is excluded from most of the island during hunts.
In 2005, there was a proposal to include language in the FY
2006 National Defense Authorization Act that would have
transferred administrative jurisdiction over Santa Rosa Island
from the NPS to the Department of Defense. The proposed
language would have also required that deer and elk populations
on the island be maintained at current levels to provide
hunting for disabled veterans and their guests. Ultimately, the
proposed language was not included in the Act or the conference
report.
On May 3, 2006, the House Armed Services Committee ordered
reported the FY 2007 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R.
5122) with a provision concerning Santa Rosa Island. Section
1036(c) requires the Secretary of the Interior to immediately
cease the plan, approved in the settlement agreement, to
exterminate deer and elk on Santa Rosa Island. The section
prohibits the Secretary from exterminating or nearly
exterminating the deer and elk herds. H.R. 5122 was passed by
the House of Representatives on May 11, 2005.
Although the settlement agreement does not require V&V to
exterminate the elk, only to remove them from the island, it
appears that the House-passed language would nullify the
settlement agreement and require the NPS to manage the island
in a way that is contrary to their management practices. S.
Res. 468 resolves that Channel Islands National Park, including
Santa Rosa Island, should be continued to be administered by
the NPS in accordance with existing laws and policies, and that
the NPS should not be directed to manage the island in a manner
that would deny the public access to the island, or that would
be inconsistent with NPS' responsibility to protect natural
resources, including threatened and endangered species.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. Res. 468 was introduced by Senators Feinstein and Boxer
on May 4, 2006. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a
hearing on S. Res. 468 on May 16, 2006. At the businessmeeting
on May 24, 2006, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered
S. Res. 468 favorably reported.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on May 24, 2006, by a unanimous voice vote of
a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. Res. 468.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
S. Res. 468 resolves that Santa Rosa Island should be
administered by the National Park Service in accordance with
the existing laws, regulations, and policies governing the
park. S. Res. 468 also resolves that the park should not be
managed in a way that excludes the public from the island.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out S. Res. 468. The bill is not a regulatory measure
in the sense of imposing Government-established standards or
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals
and businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of S. Res. 468, as ordered reported.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The views of the Administration on S. Res. 468 were
included in testimony received by the Committee at a hearing on
the bill on May 16, 2006. This testimony follows:
Statement of Stephen Martin, Deputy Director, National Park Service,
Department of the Interior
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear
before the subcommittee today to present the views of the
Department of the Interior on S. Res. 468, supporting the
continued administration of Channel Islands National Park,
including Santa Rosa Island, in accordance with the laws
(including regulations) and policies of the National Park
Service.
Because S. Res. 468 is a Senate resolution that will not be
signed into law, the Department is not taking a position on the
resolution itself. However, the Department strongly agrees with
the sentiment expressed by the resolution that the National
Park Service (NPS) should continue to manage Channel Islands
National Park, including Santa Rosa Island, in a manner that
provides for protection of the park's resources and their
enjoyment by visitors to the islands.
S. Res. 468 calls for the NPS to manage Santa Rosa Island,
part of Channel Islands National Park, in a way that protects
and allows interpretation of the natural, scenic, and cultural
resources of the island and provides visitors with a safe and
enjoyable park experience. It further states that the NPS
should not be directed to manage Santa Rosa Island in a manner
that would result in the public being denied access to
significant portions of the island or that would be
inconsistent with the responsibility of the NPS to protect
native resources within the park.
We understand that S. Res. 468 is in response to repeated
attempts in recent years to allow deer and elk, and associated
hunting operations, to remain on Santa Rosa Island
indefinitely. The current effort in this regard is language
included in H.R. 5122, the National Defense Authorization for
Fiscal Year 2007, which requires the Secretary of the Interior
to stop the plan to remove the deer and elk from the island as
required by a court-ordered settlement agreement. This
provision would effectively overturn the 1998 settlement
agreement, that the NPS is legally bound to, that requires the
phaseout of non-native deer and elk over several years and
their complete removal from the island by the end of 2011.
Until the deer and elk are removed and the hunting operation
ends, most of the island will remain closed to the public for
significant portions of each year.
Channel Islands National Monument was designated in 1938 by
President Franklin D. Roosevelt under the authority of the
Antiquities Act. In 1980, the monument was expanded to include
additional islands, including the 54,000-acre Santa Rosa
Island, and redesignated as Channel Islands National Park. The
park's purpose is to protect the nationally significant
natural, scenic, wildlife, marine, ecological, archaeological,
cultural, and scientific values of the five out of the eight
California Channel Islands that comprise the park.
The question of whether to allow hunting in units of the
National Parks System is decided by Congress on a case-by-case
basis. Congress discussed the issue of the appropriateness of
hunting on the Channel Islands during consideration of the
legislation to redesignate Channel Islands National Monument as
a national park in 1979 and 1980, and made a deliberate
decision not to allow hunting there. We feel that this is still
the appropriate decision today.
It is important to note that once it was determined that
Santa Rosa Island was to be incorporated within Channel Islands
National Park, Vail and Vicker's, Ltd. (V&V) requested that
Santa Rosa Island be the highest priority for acquisition by
the NPS. This was reflected in the enabling legislation. In
1986, the NPS purchased Santa Rosa Island for $29.5 million
from V&V, who retained a 25-year non-commercial reservation of
use and occupancy covering a 7.6-acre area containing the ranch
house and a nearby field. At the request of V&V, supported by
members ofCongress, the NPS issued a series of 5-year special
use permits (SUPs) to allow V&V to continue their cattle ranching and
elk and deer hunting operations.
In 1996, because of the impacts on endangered species and
water quality issues, the National Parks Conservation
Association sued the NPS. In 1997, V&V sued NPS to retain their
current SUP and continue their operations until 2011. A three-
way settlement agreement, entered into court in 1998, provided
for removing the cattle by the end of 1998, which occurred on
schedule, and for phasing out deer and elk, and removing them
altogether by the end of 2011, when the V&V 25-year non-
commercial reservation of the 7.6 acre ranch expires. The
settlement agreement included two options under which hunting
could continue. The parties chose the second option, which was
to manage the deer and elk using adaptive management
guidelines. Each year, the NPS, with recommendations from an
agreed upon scientific panel, determines whether an accelerated
reduction in either the deer or elk herds are necessary.
Regardless of the management option, all deer and elk are to be
removed by V&V no later than the end of 2011. At that time, V&V
will be required to remove all their property, including any
remaining deer and elk, which V&V owns. It is necessary to end
the hunting operation to open up the island for other
recreational purposes, such as hiking, camping, and
sightseeing, on a year-round basis. So long as a hunting
operation continues, 90 percent of the island will be off
limits for general recreation for four to five months of each
year. After spending $29.5 million to purchase the island and
more to restore native plants and animals, the NPS has been
eager to make this spectacular island available for full-time
enjoyment by the general public.
Santa Rosa Island is currently the most accessible of the
five islands that are part of Channel Islands National Park. It
is the island where the NPS can most easily and cost
effectively welcome American citizens who have physical
disabilities, including our men and women in uniform who have
become disabled in the service to our Nation.
Removal of the non-native deer and elk is necessary for
native plants and animals to flourish on Santa Rosa Island, and
to ensure that efforts spent on restoration are not wasted.
Channel Islands National Park has been in the forefront of the
NPS's efforts to control non-native species that out-compete
the native species. The park has undertaken several successful
ecological restoration programs. The eradication of introduced
rats from Anacapa Island has resulted in the increased
survivability of the Xantus's murrelet. The removal of
introduced rabbits, cattle, sheep, and mules from Santa
Barbara, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and San Miguel Islands has
allowed for vegetation restoration. Park staff, local
communities, the Nature Conservancy, and the Montrose Trustees,
who worked together to reestablish the American bald eagle were
recently rewarded with the first eaglet born in the northern
Channel Islands in 50 years, on Santa Cruz Island. The NPS
looks forward to more successes of this type in the Channel
Islands, including Santa Rosa Island.
For all these reasons, the Department supports the
continued implementation of the 1998 settlement agreement, so
that the day will come, after 2011, when NPS will be able to
manage Santa Rosa Island as Congress intended when Channel
Islands National Park was established in 1980.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my statement. I will be happy
to answer any questions you or members of the subcommittee may
have.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the Resolution S. Res. 468,
as ordered reported.
