Cal State Fullerton Has Failed Tucker Refuge

Re “Activists Protest Conditions at Closed Tucker Refuge,” July 13:

For months now, we have tried to work with Cal State Fullerton in maintaining and opening Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary at the end of Modjeska Canyon, in accordance with the conditions placed on Tucker by the San Fernando Audubon Society from which Cal State Fullerton originally acquired Tucker.

Keeping Tucker closed to the public and changing it from a wildlife sanctuary to a private pocket park by removing habitat and continuing to introduce nonnative vegetation clearly violate those conditions. Instead of taking advantage of the decades of canyon experience we possess, as well as the fund-raising that we’ve offered, Cal State Fullerton has held us out at arm’s length, opting to push ahead with unsupervised “volunteer” work that has resulted in considerable environmental damage.

As a former cabin counselor at Camp O-ongo, I value and support our dwindling outdoor educational facilities. Relatively few of them remain today that show what Orange County and its wildlife looked like a hundred years ago. Tucker used to reach 40,000 children a year when it was open. Now they are turned away.

Cal State Fullerton has demonstrated that it is a poor steward of this little canyon jewel in either event. I call on it to release Tucker back to the Audubon Society so that another institutional administrator can be found with the heart and the management expertise to open and operate Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary in such a manner as to stimulate the child in each of us.

Jim Sill

President, Friends of Tucker Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary