I learned today from an article in the Los Angeles Times that the National Park Service is once again allowing landings and overnight camping on Santa Cruz: Camping ban on Santa Cruz Island is lifted.

According to the Times:

The National Park Service has lifted a temporary ban on camping on Santa Cruz Island, imposed in November to ensure public safety while hunters taking aim at the island’s feral pigs focused their efforts near camping areas.

The park service said the $5-million pig hunt was necessary to protect the endangered Santa Cruz Island fox. Since last April, a New Zealand-based hunting company that it hired has killed about 4,800 pigs and cleared an estimated 85% of the island, said Yvonne Menard, a park service spokeswoman.

Boaters should note that restrictions on travelling inland on the island are still in effect throughout the western two-thirds of the island (that is, the part controlled by the Nature Conservancy). In that part of the island, landings require obtaining a per-vessel permit in advance from the Nature Conservancy, you are restricted (through June 2007) to visiting only beach areas, and certain beaches are completely closed. (See the Nature Conservancy’s beach closures page for details.)

This entry was posted by John Callender on Tuesday, March 21st, 2006 at 6:55 am and is filed under Cruising, Northern Channel Islands. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.