Background on the Catalina Island Restoration Project

As isolated ecosystems, islands are particularly vulnerable to the harmful ecological effects of invasive species, which are a leading cause of extinction for other non-invasive species. Thus, addressing invasive species is a key concern to scientists since islands harbor 20% of the earth’s biodiversity, 50% of currently threatened species, and have been where 75% of documented extinctions have taken place since the 15th century.

Catalina Island, located 22 miles southwest offshore of Los Angeles, is home to more than 60 native plant and animal species found nowhere else in the world. Members of the Catalina Island Conservancy (CIC), a nonprofit established in 1972 to protect and restore the island, are raising concerns that the island’s invasive mule deer are actively endangering native plants and wildlife. Responsible for protecting 88% of the island, the conservancy is proposing the eradication of the mule deer population to protect Catalina’s native ecosystem.

History and Current Status of Catalina Island’s Deer

In an effort to promote hunting tourism, Los Angeles County officials shipped a total of 22 mule deer to Catalina Island between 1928 and 1932. Today, that figure has grown to roughly 1,800. As a result of increased mule deer grazing on native plants, invasive grasses currently make up 35% of the island’s ecosystem, outpacing the slow-growing native plants that are more resistant to fires, prevent soil erosion, and help recharge aquifers for the island’s town of Avalon.

In January 2026, California Department of Fish and Wildlife approved a restoration management permit from the Catalina Island Conservancy. This permit gives the agency permission to pursue several initiatives related to Operation Protect Catalina Island, an overarching plan by the conservancy to protect the island’s land, native plants, and native wildlife. Under this plan, eradicating the mule deer is an identified and necessary step to restore the island’s native ecosystem. In addition to deer eradication, other measures that can be pursued with an approved restoration management permit include restoring soil and water systems, treating invasive grasses, and planting native flora.

Restoration Project Goals

Protect and Restore the Island’s Native Ecosystem

Among the island’s many threatened flora and wildlife are federally-recognized endangered species. One such example is the island rush-rose, a species of plant that is only found on the Channel Islands. In a 2016 study, researchers documented the effects mule deer had on the federally-endangered island rush-rose, finding that 58% of sampled populations exhibited seed production failure, impacting the species’ long-term survival. The island rush-rose illustrates the severity of impact mule deer have on a species-specific level in addition to the broader displacement of native plants.

The CIC and CDFW stress that eliminating the island’s deer is a fundamental step towards supporting the recovery and long-term health of native species. Invasive species eradication has been an effective method for helping native island species recover on Santa Rosa Island–a neighboring Channel Island next to Catalina. Following the removal of non-native cattle, pigs, deer, and elk on Santa Rosa Island, native species quickly recovered even without additional restoration efforts. The CIC hopes to achieve similar results through the removal of mule deer on Catalina Island.

Restoration Project Concerns

The Project is Inhumane

Critics of the project, like the vice president of the Catalina Island Humane Society (CIHS), a nonprofit rescue and shelter facility, have called the conservancy’s plan “violent and ugly”. The CIHS also argues that the project ignores residents’ pleas to keep the deer, as residents claim they have become a cherished part of island culture. Other critics say the methodology for deer removal, notably using rifles, is inhumane. Rather than implementing full elimination, residents are urging the CIC to explore more humane methods to reduce the deer population, including solutions like relocation, sterilization, and hunting programs. 

According to the CIC, the conservancy has tried exploring a number of the proposed solutions from critics. Despite the issuing of hundreds of new hunting tags, specialized permits issued by state wildlife agencies that grant hunters the right to harvest animals, the number of harvested deers has not risen significantly compared to previous hunting seasons. The harvesting rate, which averages 236 per year, is too low to meaningfully curb the population of mule deer.

The Project Ignores Community Input

The CDFW approved the conservancy’s restoration project under the Statutory Exemption for Restoration Projects (SERP). SERP falls under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), a California state law requiring projects proposed or approved by a California public agency to disclose the environmental impacts of their proposed projects and how these impacts can be minimized. SERP exempts a restoration project from complying with CEQA environmental review standards.

One such review standard bypassed with a SERP is a public commentary period, meaning that the conservancy isn’t required to engage with public input for this project. While removing such review processes fast tracks the restoration project, there are concerns from locals that community input on how to best manage the island’s mule deer will be ignored. Janice Hahn, who represents Catalina Island in Los Angeles’ 4th District, wrote to the CDFW that “I continue to hear from my constituents who have lived on the island for decades and have come to cherish these deer. Mule deer have been part of Catalina’s landscape for nearly a century, and their presence has become an important part of the island’s identity.” 

While the conservancy hasn’t fully addressed the cultural value of the deer in its plans, community input has shaped the direction of the island’s restoration project since its inception in 2023. In response to outrage over initial plans to shoot deer from the air using helicopters and leaving the corpses to decompose, the conservancy shifted to a ground-based specialist approach and will donate any meat harvested to the California Condor Recovery Program to provide endangered birds with food. 

Looking Ahead

Despite community pushback, the conservancy is adamantly moving forward with plans to eradicate the island’s deer, citing it a necessary measure for the island’s native ecosystem to be restored. Because the restoration management permit has been approved by the CDFW, 10-12 ground-based specialists will be deployed on Catalina Island starting as quickly as September 2026 over a period of five years, but precise day-to-day details will be kept private due to safety concerns.

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