Is this about Fire, Plants or Grapes?
Fire in California is driven by drought, wind, weather, ignition sources, and decades of bad land management decisions, not a single species.
In a recent meeting with LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn's office, the Conservancy's representatives said there was an urgent need to eliminate the deer because the deer pose a fire hazard. However, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone, whose department has a fire station on Catalina Island, told Hahn he believes mule deer actually help mitigate fire risks by consuming vegetation.
Chief Marrone has raised a red flag, warning that taking out the deer could actually increase wildfire fuel, since the animals currently eat undergrowth vegetation that would otherwise be left to dry out. It is a counterintuitive twist in a debate that has largely been framed as habitat restoration versus sentimentality.
If the deer are removed and the Island still burns, who do we blame then?
The California Assembly Bill 1581 was passed in 2024, it is commonly known as the Resoration Management Permits Act (RMPA). It streamlines enviromental permitting for habitat restoration by allowing the California Department of of Fish and Wildlife to issue a single consolidated permit. It aims to speed up restoration and reduce bureaucratic hurdles. It was designed to “cut green tape”.
Because the Bill was passed and the Catalina Island Conservancy was denied their Scientific Collection permit in 2025, the Conservancy announced it was going in a new direction and on July 31, 2025 applied for a Restoration Management Permit to enable them to kill 100% of the Deer on Catalina Island.
Bill 1581 was also supported by one of the Catalina Island Conservancy’s Strategy Team members, Kim Delfino who is a Lobbyist and Founder of Earth Advocacy, who testified in support of the Bill to get passed.
Also testifying to get Bill 1581 passed was the Wine Institute, who represents the Wine Industry in California. One of the supporters of this bill is the Sonoma Land Trust which include the Rodney Strong Vineyard, Gundlach Bundschu Winery, Freeman Vineyard and Winery, Rochioli Vineyards and Winery, Iron Horse Vineyards, Rodney Strong Vineyards, Flowers Vineyards and Winery, Auteur Wines, Unit Vineyards, B.R. Cohn Winery, St. Francis Winery and Vineyards, Gloria Ferrer Wines, Martinelli Vineyards and Winery, Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards and West Sonoma Coast Vineyards just to name a few.
It is also important to note, Governor Gavin Newsom who is part owner in the company PlumJack which includes a collection of wineries such as PlumpJack Estate Winery, CADE Estate Winery, 13th Vineyard and Odette Estate Winery.
Cade Estate Winery is associated with the broader California wine community and its parent/sister companies (like PlumpJack) participate in regional and statewide advocacy, through specific active roster enrollment in the Wine Institute, the prominent public policy and advocacy association for California wineries.
