Residents Cry Foul at Duck Hunting in Irvine Marsh : But Sportsmen Pay for Water to Support Area

In Irvine’s San Joaquin marsh, joggers and bicyclists roam the perimeter of a freshwater wildlife preserve that is home to ducks, birds, bobcats, coyotes, skunks and other wildlife.

From October through January, the bucolic setting also plays host to duck hunters, whose presence predates the homes, offices and university buildings that now ring the serene preserve.

The wildlife species, many point out, actually owe their lives to the hunters, who pay $33,000 a year to flood the marsh with water, allowing the vegetation and wildlife to thrive.

But the tradition of duck hunting may be ending in at least half of the marsh. Pressed by residents who say duck hunting is a potentially dangerous anachronism in the growing city, Irvine officials are quietly exploring ways to keep the marsh alive without the duck hunters and their money.

“I’m very concerned about preserving these wetlands,” said Councilman Cameron Cosgrove, who will be getting an informal group together in June to explore a number of strategies to finance the marsh’s long-term upkeep. The property is owned by the Irvine Co., but it is expected to be deeded to the city sometime in the future, and it is included in the city’s conservation and open space program.

“Unless the hunters are allowed to hunt, they’re naturally not going to pay the money to do it,” Cosgrove said.

Separate Agreements

If the city can come up with the money to preserve its share of the wetlands, the duck hunters who make up the San Joaquin Wildlife Habitat club, it appears, will not return to the northeastern half of the marsh. However, if no one else wants to foot the bill--estimated at $30,000 a year for water and a caretaker--the hunters could be back for the next duck season.

Another club, the Old San Joaquin Gun Club, hunts on the southwestern half of the marsh under a separate agreement with UC Irvine, which has jurisdiction over that portion of the marshland.

While duck hunting in the marsh has gone on for decades, it came under scrutiny last year after the San Joaquin Wildlife Habitat allowed its city permit for hunting on the northeasterly half of the marsh to expire in June. The club originally received its permit from the county before Irvine became a city, and afterwards, the permit was routinely renewed by Irvine officials, according to Paul Brady Jr., assistant city manager.

The permit’s expiration last June went unnoticed for several months but after city officials became aware of it, they denied the club’s renewal application. Several city residents were concerned about hunting in the area, Brady said, and council members “were getting calls from residents hearing shotgun blasts and seeing birds fall out of the air.”

The club did not appeal the decision to the Planning Commission, and no more duck hunting was allowed on the city’s portion of the marsh from late December on, Brady said.

Harry Rinker, president of San Joaquin Wildlife Habitat, declined to comment on the issue, saying he will speak on the matter in a month or so--apparently after Cosgrove’s group meets.

Lois Anne Welsh, spokeswoman for an animal welfare group, said duck hunting is too potentially dangerous to be allowed in the same area as hikers and bicyclists. It disturbs marsh animals, endangers nearby residents and is inappropriate in a city where it is against the law to fire a gun, Welsh said, and the group wants it stopped.

“Hunting in city limits is giving a handful of people permission to discharge a firearm when the rest of us are not allowed to,” said Welsh, president of Committee of Friends.

In addition, she said, its sole purpose is to kill animals. “We do not condone the practice of killing, maiming and injuring wildlife for fun, and that’s what it is. Recreational hunting is fun hunting. It is not necessary for subsistence.”

According to state game officials, the marsh--which is bordered by Michelson Drive, MacArthur Boulevard, Carlson Avenue and the San Diego Creek Channel--is the only place in Orange County where hunting is allowed close to an urban area. Further, the duck-hunting spot is one of the few left in fast-developing Southern California.

“Historically, duck hunting went on all through the area,” said Larry Sitton, wildlife management supervisor for the state Department of Fish and Game in Southern California. The few remaining marshes “are remnants of what was once widespread. But they are being phased out because the value of the land is so much greater for development than it is for use by a duck club.”

Supporters of the hunters insist that they follow strict safety precautions--no one ever has been hit by a shotgun pellet--and that they provide a valuable service by preserving the wetlands for the others to enjoy. Both clubs contribute to marsh conservation by purchasing water from the Irvine Ranch Water District to flood marsh ponds.

That water attracts more than ducks to the marshland, according to Sitton.

The duck hunters “are not only supplying a habitat for the ducks but that land also is valuable for other species we’re concerned with,” he said. If the marsh was dry, the other animals would die or leave, he said. “Their keeping water out there is helping California wildlife.”

The keeper of UCI’s reserve concurred. If not for the extra water, steward Bill Bretz said, “the ponds that were flooded in late July, early August, probably would still be dry because of this year’s lack of rainfall. . . .

“To attract and provide for diverse wildlife, you need a diverse habitat out there,” Bretz said. “Ideally, when you’re running a duck club, you are sort of creating food resources at a much higher level than if there was no management going on.”

Members also help to “trim back vegetation and try to get rid of undesirables,” he said. “They displaced it with desirable vegetation and shore up dikes.”

A spokeswoman for the Irvine Co., which leases the northeastern section of marsh to the San Joaquin Wildlife Habitat, said the group has “provided significant improvements.”

‘Good Steward of Habitat’

“They’ve been a real good steward of the habitat, purchasing water for the ponding area, keeping it clear of debris, making sure the area is in good shape for the birds to come in and nest. They’ve done a very good job of maintaining it,” Kathleen Campini said.

The group on Irvine Co. land also pays about $15,000 a year for 100 acre-feet of water to flood ponds, said Ronald E. Young, Irvine Ranch Water District spokesman.

Initially, Young’s only concern was for the safety of his employees. But that worry faded.

“There doesn’t appear to be any danger from shooting going awry,” he said.

Greg W. Gerstenberg, wildlife biologist for the state Fish and Game Department agreed. Shotgun pellets are lethal up to about a 50-yard range, he said. Since shots are fired deep within the marsh, which stretches over many acres, there is no danger to humans.

According to state law, each duck hunter is limited to killing two ducks per day. Additionally gun clubs restrict their members to hunting 3 days a week during daylight hours only.

Hunters statewide killed an average of one to two ducks per day, Gerstenberg said. At the UCI reserve, hunters shoot about 100 ducks a season.

The disappearance of wetlands due to development and shortage of funds for maintenance would potentially kill more ducks than are bagged each year by hunters in the state, Gerstenberg said.

Conservationists have estimated that more than 80% of the marshes that were once extensive throughout California have been lost to development over past decades.

“Open space is getting rarer and rarer,” Gerstenberg said. It’s a fair trade-off “to have a few people pay for this open space area for just a few ducks.”

Members of the Old San Joaquin Gun Club, meanwhile, hunt on 40 acres southwest of Campus Drive. The club doesn’t need a city use permit, but has agreed with UCI, which owns and operates the land, to spend about $18,000 towards marsh upkeep in exchange for permission to hunt.

The gun club has been around since the 1930s when wetlands proliferated in Orange County, club spokesman David Combs said.

Although they have a waiting list of people wanting to join, Combs said the group is purposely kept small to regulate the amount of hunting done. Members can bring guests to hunt for a $100 fee. The club also limits hunting to 2 days a week, Wednesday and Saturday. At most, eight or nine hunters hunt at one time.

In addition, a duck hunter must buy a state duck stamp for $7.50, federal duck stamp for $10 and state hunting license for $19.25.

Comparing the number of ducks shot with the amount of money the club spends on marsh maintenance, club officials said hunters spent about $180 per duck last year.

Combs said the joys of the sport make it worthwhile.

“It’s just the pleasure of being outdoors. I think the hunting becomes incidental to that,” Combs said. “Your bird hunters are typically conservation-minded. They speak with their wallets.”

But animal welfare advocate Welsh doesn’t buy the hunters’ arguments. She remembers Irvine’s undeveloped fields when she moved to the city 25 years ago and has seen a change.

“There was hardly anyone here,” she said. Now Irvine has so many people, hunting can no longer be tolerated.

“What’s it going to take?” Welsh said. “Do (the hunters) wait until one person is killed before they say they can’t do this anymore? Besides, how can (hunters) like wildlife and yet kill it? To me that’s contradictory.”

UCI’s Bretz said that if the city of Irvine does not allow the hunters back on its side of the marsh and finds another way to finance wetlands preservation, it could prompt the university to take a second look at its relationship with the hunters. The Old San Joaquin club has a couple of years left on its agreement with UCI, he said.

“It is pretty expensive, preserving the wetlands,” Bretz said. “Hunters have been willing to do this. If you eliminate the hunters, you either eliminate the valuable things they contribute or find some other way to do this.”

Irvine Councilman Cosgrove said he hopes to do just that. Even though Irvine will not be deeded the property by the Irvine Co. for several years, he hopes that the city will take on its responsibilities toward conserving the open space early. He plans to meet with representatives of UCI, county vector control, the water district and the state Fish and Game Department to develop financial strategies that he hopes to take to the City Council before the next hunting season opens in the fall.

If the council approves a plan, he said, “it basically leaves them (the hunters) out. . . .

“But if the city isn’t willing and the hunters are, (allowing the hunters back) should be considered as an option.”

Cosgrove said he personally does not think hunting in the marshland is appropriate but hasn’t made a final decision about how he would vote on the question.

“It’s sort of a contradiction in terms. It’s a wildlife refuge, and yet you let people hunt there,” Cosgrove said.

Still, if the only way to keep the marshland flooded and full of wildlife is to have the hunters there, the city must weigh that, Cosgrove added. “That deserves its day in court,” he said.