First of a series.
The Catalina Island Conservancy has announced this week that it has received final approval of its restoration management permit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Conservancy officials say the move clears the way for what they contend will be a decades-long, “transformational” project to restore native habitats, protect freshwater resources, and reduce the risk of more frequent wildfires across Catalina Island.
“This restoration work is a cornerstone of the Conservancy’s strategic plan and represents the commitment our board has made to protect this island,” said Maureen Ramer, chair of the Board of Directors, in a statement.
“Conservancy staff have done exceptional work to bring this permit to approval, and we’re proud to support them as they lead this critical effort,” she said.
Another Conservancy official said the work will be nothing short of a transformation for the island.
“This marks a pivotal moment for conservation on Catalina and in California,” said Lauren Dennhardt, senior director of conservation for the Catalina Island Conservancy. “The permit clears the way for restoration work the Island has needed for decades, and it allows us to take action at a transformative scale,” she said.
The permit authorizes a series of projects by the Conservancy that they claim will transform and protect the island as “Operation Protect Catalina Island”. This coordinated, multi-decade restoration strategy combines habitat restoration, invasive species management, and wildfire prevention.
According to the Conservancy, Catalina Island is home to approximately 4,000 year-round residents and more than 60 endemic plant and animal species found nowhere else on Earth.
The Catalina Island Conservancy protects 88% of Catalina Island’s approximately 48,000 acres, including the region’s longest publicly accessible undeveloped coastline.
While Conservancy officials were pleased with the state’s permit approval, some over at city hall in Avalon, apparently, not so much, as the Avalon City Council voted unanimously (3-0) in closed session to challenge the permit’s approval in court (see related story at https://thecatalinaislander.com/city-attorneys-office-to-challenge-conservancy-restoration-permit/).
The Conservancy has worked diligently to mitigate opposition to the section of their proposed project that calls for the elimination of the island’s mule deer population, which they claim is not native to the island, causing significant ecological damage.
“The deer has had a huge impact on the island, said Pepe Barton, director of Communications, with its population swelling from approximately 10 brought over in the 1930s for hunting to approximately 2,000 today.
“We have seen what Catalina Island can be with our Catalina Island Restoration areas,” said Barton, “which have been fenced from deer. We have seen the plants they love to eat grow in the area fenced off from the deer, and what we can imagine now is a future where we don’t need fencing.”
He said research indicates that after the fires in 2006 and 2007, the deer ate the native plant “sprouts” as they tried to regenerate, thus the island in those areas was soon filled with “flammable, invasive grasses” rather than native plants.
According to the Catalina Conservancy, invasive annual grasses now dominate 35% of the Island’s ecosystems and rebound quickly after fire, crowding out slower-growing native plants that help resist future burns.
In addition, they say peer-reviewed research on Catalina shows that invasive mule deer accelerate this cycle by eating native vegetation, slowing ecosystem recovery and allowing invasive grasses to spread. When native vegetation cannot return, soil erodes, and rainwater runs off rather than recharging the aquifer that supplies freshwater to the town of Avalon.
According to a leading expert quoted by the Conservancy, residents have a choice: deer or a biodiverse ecosystem across the interior of Catalina Island.
“The evidence of the severity of the threat the deer pose is overwhelming, and all other alternatives have been exhausted,” said Scott Morrison, director of conservation and science for The Nature Conservancy in California. “Catalina Island can have either a functional, biodiverse, and resilient ecosystem or it can have deer. It cannot have both,” the expert said in the statement.
According to Dennhardt, reclaiming Catalina’s wild areas will accelerate a rebound like that seen on many of the other Channel Islands.
“Catalina is a treasure that will rebound much like the other Channel Islands as a result of restoring native habitats and removing the pressure caused by invasives like mule deer,” said Dennhardt.
Barton said the project will span decades and that the Conservancy will retain its dialogue with island residents. The mule deer elimination alone could take as long as five years to implement, he added.
While the mule deer controversy has dominated much of the discussion, Catalina Conservancy officials insist the upcoming restoration has the potential to transform much of the island back to its native beauty and enhance its biodiversity.
The project seeks to restore health to much of the land and water on the island by restoring soil and water systems to recharge groundwater, testing various native planting methods, treating and eliminating invasive grasses that are not eco-friendly and only add to wildfire danger.
In addition, the Conservancy plans strict and long-term monitoring of the recovery across the island.
One of the goals of Operation Protect Catalina Island is to restore native plants to the island. Over time, Conservancy officials plan to collect wild seeds from Catalina’s native plants, farm them to expand the available supply of those native plants and then plant them across the island using methods timed with seasonal rains to restore fire-resistant vegetation “at landscape scale.”
According to the Conservancy, the overall project is also designed to restore native species across the island by rebalancing its ecosystem. The project envisions achieving this ecosystem balance by controlling many invasive plant species and the controlled removal of mule deer.
Over the months and years, the Conservancy’s project states that it plans to monitor the restored ecosystems through tracking the island fox, native birds, rare mammals such as the Catalina shrew, reptiles, amphibians, and pollinators across the island.
According to its press release, the permit approval follows years of collaborative planning, scientific review, and public engagement. None of Catalina’s protected areas will be affected by the project, said Barton.
In addition, the permit application included 63 letters of support from community members, conservation partners, and stakeholders, including the Gabrieleno-Tongva Tribal Community, the Conservancy said.
Barton said the Conservancy will continue hosting community conversations so the public can learn more, ask more questions, and better understand how the work will unfold in 2026 and beyond.
“This has been the result of a lot of gathering of independent research that has occurred across the island,” said Barton, and “lots of coordination and information gathering from fire ecologists, wildlife biologists, and independent researchers that have shown us the direct impacts on a place as unique as Catalina Island.” For more information and key details of “Operation Protect”, visit catalinaconservancy.org/protect.
Opposition groups have banded together to stop the eradication of the Catalina Island Mule Deer. Coalition to Save the Catalina Mule Deer voicing disagreement with the restoration plan, along with other mule deer groups. In coming issues, the Catalina Islander will look at the groups that are fighting to keep save the deer. Part II in the series will look at what they think now and how the Catalina Conservancy plans to utilize its newly issued permit.
