Friend,
You've read here about the Catalina Island Conservancy's (CIC) plans to slaughter all Catalina deer using sharpshooters from helicopters and other methods determined by experts to be completely inhumane, leaving their bodies to rot. We've shared insights from independent scientists and conservationists who've debunked the Conservancy's pseudoscience and revealed their false messaging blaming deer for environmental woes that the Senior Environmental Scientist at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife called out as patentily FALSE:
"The emergency CIC describes is not related to deer. The current habitat condition throughout the island is a result of centuries of livestock damage to soil and vegetation NOT deer browsing.”
If you are a current donor to the Conservancy, please stop contributing and sign our Donor's Pledge (below) to let decision-makers know you are doing so because of the Conservancy’s EXTREME and patently unscientific and deceptive approach. If you are not a donor, your voice will still make a difference through our Concerned Citizen Pledge (below) as we are going to share all Pledges with decision-makers on Catalina and beyond.
Here's WHAT TO KNOW and what ACTIONS TO TAKE:
WHAT TO KNOW - On Catalina, here's where the REAL POWER lies, and who you’ll be writing to using one of our two quick-and-easy Pledge forms:
• Alison Wrigley Rusack. The senior, lifetime Member of the Catalina Island Conservancy's Board of Directors, Alison, and others she has chosen as lifetime members actually choose and remove Board members. She is also Chair of the Board of the developer the Catalina Island Company and from the Conservancy received dispensation to build a thirsty vineyard on a water-starved desert island in the middle of an ecological preserve. The buck stops with her.
• Geoff Rusack (ALISON’S HUSBAND) - Past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Catalina Island Conservancy and current President and CEO of the Catalina Island Company
• Will Hagenah (ALISON’S COUSIN) - Chair of the Board of Directors of the Catalina Island Conservancy
WHAT ACTIONS TO TAKE
ACTION 1: FOR CURRENT CONSERVANCY DONORS: SIGN OUR CURRENT SUPPORTERS PLEDGE and write a letter sharing your concerns that we will forward to each of these decision-makers and others.
ACTION 2: FOR NON-CONSERVANCY DONORS: SIGN OUR CONCERNED CITIZEN PLEDGE and share your concerns with the preceding and other decision-makers!
ACTION 3: FOR EVERYONE - SUPPORT OUR DEER DEFENSE FUND through our GO FUND ME CAMPAIGN. (Any funds left over would support the work of the Humane Society on Catalina Island.)
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Friend, deer are part of the Catalina Island experience and are beloved to residents and visitors alike, and the number of deer that can be managed on the island and still achieve conservation goals for native plants has NEVER been proven to be ZERO!
We thank you ahead of time for SIGNING OUR PLEDGE and taking other actions above to help save our Catalina deer for future generations to enjoy.
Sincerely yours,
Coalition Against the Slaughter of Catalina Deer
The Coalition Against the Slaughter of Catalina Deer is a diverse, grass-roots group of concerned citizens spanning island residents, business owners, animal lovers, hunters, attorneys, visitors to the island, and numerous organizations and their membership who oppose the brutal eradication of California mule deer on Catalina Island and support humane management by responsible hunting.