Duck Hunters Cry Foul : Findings of Wildlife Study at Prized Wetlands Could End Sportsmen’s Fun

Military and civilian workers at Point Mugu hunt ducks every fall in the marshy waters of Mugu Lagoon, a prized wetlands that supports endangered wildlife on the naval air station.

But some conservationists contend that hunters scare off the rare birds, disturb nesting habits and trample endangered plants. At the request of federal wildlife officials, Navy scientists began a yearlong study last month to find out what effect hunting has on the wildlife.

“The hunters at Mugu may lose the right to hunt,” said Cat Brown, a biologist with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service in Ventura. At no other similar coastal wetlands in the state is hunting allowed, she said.

The possibility that they may lose access to an area that they have been using for decades angers the hunters. Navy pilot Keith Crenshaw scanned the lagoon recently and pointed to hundreds of ducks, egrets, sea gulls, terns and other birds gathered on the shore.

“That’s an incredible number of birds,” said Crenshaw, chairman of the base’s waterfowl committee that oversees the hunting. “We’re not bothering any critters out there.”

The sheer number of birds is proof, Crenshaw said, that the hunting season from Oct. 26 to Jan. 5, with a two-week respite in the middle, hasn’t scared off the wildfowls.

He pointed to an airplane that was taking off with a deafening roar from a Navy runway that cuts through the lagoon. How can the study separate the presence of hunters with their guns, boats and dogs from the bustling activity and noise on the base, he asked.

“It’s very hard to tell what constitutes interference. The birds are here,” he said. “I think the two can coexist.”

Not so, said Bill Supri, president of Audubon Conejo Valley, a conservation group.

“The lagoon is not an appropriate place to hunt,” said Supri, who was stunned when he learned about the hunting a few months ago. It’s not just the chance that a rare bird might be shot that worries him. The gunshots scatter birds for a mile, disturbing nesting habits, he said.

Supri visits the lagoon frequently and calls it the best place in the area to observe birds because of the number of wetlands that have been lost to development. “It’s a real treasure,” he said.

The Sierra Club’s Tom Maxwell, chairman of the Conejo group, agrees. “I don’t understand conservation that allows hunting, except for culling numbers,” said Maxwell, who added that the duck population has dropped dramatically in recent years.

The duck population nationwide has dropped from 130 million in the 1940s to about 66 million today, according to Ducks Unlimited, a worldwide organization of hunters and conservationists.

It’s the Navy’s responsibility to manage the 2,000-acre lagoon, and that job falls to Ron Dow, who heads the environmental division at the base.

Dow and federal Fish and Wildlife personnel became concerned about the effect of hunting in the lagoon when they learned a year ago that an endangered light-footed clapper rail was nesting in a duck blind, a brush-covered wooden box big enough for two hunters.

“We began to take a closer look,” said Dow, who agrees that the study is needed. It will determine whether the hunting violates the Endangered Species Act, a 1972 law that protects rare species of wildlife, especially those located on federally owned land.

That doesn’t necessarily mean an end to hunting in the lagoon, he said. If the study shows hunting does not harm the wildlife, he sees no reason why it can’t continue.

“We’re not out to shut it down,” he said.

The lagoon’s marshy salt waters are a stop for migrating birds who feed on its abundant food supply. Among the more than 200 species of birds observed there, five are endangered: the peregrine falcon, Belding’s savannah sparrow, the least tern, the brown pelican and the light-footed clapper rail.

The lagoon was a choice hunting spot even before the Navy base and its Pacific Missile Test Center were established there in 1946. Except for two areas that border the base and are owned by private clubs, there are virtually no other duck-hunting spots in Ventura County.

One club, the Point Mugu Game Preserve, which was established in 1929, once counted Clark Gable and Gary Cooper among its members. It’s not easy to join. Memberships seldom turn over at that club or the neighboring Ventura County Game Preserve. And when they do, they reportedly run $75,000 to $100,000.

Endangered wildlife is not a problem for the clubs. The rare birds seek out saltwater marshes rather than the farmland where the clubs are located.

Navy personnel have hunted in the lagoon since the base was established. Every year about 60 to 100 hunters are assigned duck blinds.

Most of the blinds are in the marshy areas of the lagoon where they may hunt on Wednesdays and Saturdays during the season. They are limited to a total of only four days in the wettest part of the lagoon where more wildlife congregate. But first they must show they can identify various ducks and endangered birds on a Navy-administered test.

The hunters already have seen the loss of about 12 duck blinds, leaving 42, because of the endangered birds or other problems. They have cordoned off areas near the blinds where endangered plants are growing.

Crenshaw, who has hunted on the base the past 11 years, thinks that the hunters have done enough.

“I resent the loss of what is a privilege,” he said. “We see this as a basic erosion of our constitutional rights.”

“The people who hunt are not wild-eyed maniacs,” he said. The killing of ducks is but a small part of the sport, he said. The rest is getting up early, going out with a dog and taking in the scenery.

As for caring about the endangered species, he and other hunters are quick to point out that they have done much to preserve wetlands nationwide through hunting fees and clubs such as Ducks Unlimited.

Crenshaw said the study presumes that the hunters are “guilty until proven innocent.” For hunting to continue, he said, the study must prove that it doesn’t harm endangered wildlife.

When the study is done, Dow expects to work with Brown’s Fish and Wildlife Service to determine whether hunting should be banned, reduced or left as it is.

“This is the best salt marsh in Southern California,” Dow said. “But if there is no conflict, I don’t see why hunting should be stopped.”