I was one of many hunters who paid Dr. Carey Stanton, who owned Santa Cruz Island then, to be allowed to hunt, under strict supervision, the pigs and sheep on Santa Cruz.
Dr. Stanton had tried several methods of controlling the population of the pigs and sheep. He had allowed a dog food company to try to eliminate the pigs and sheep. That failed when the dog food company found it not economical.
Dr. Stanton also had arranged for paid hunters to try to eliminate the animals. That failed.
The reason is clear to anyone who knows the island. There are simply too many places in which the pigs can hide and reproduce. And there is the night, when the pigs can go where they like, undisturbed. I do not believe the pigs can be eliminated, exterminated, at least not without enormous effort. And if you try, give them a few years and-----
Then Dr. Stanton turned to sport hunters and the guides he hired. We sport hunters paid dearly for the privilege of that hunting, and we did control the population of pigs. I know because they became more scarce as the years went on.
I think it absurd that the National Park Service is paying some organization from New Zealand a million dollars to do what sport hunters like myself would pay to do.
— William F. Steagall, Sr. Oxnard
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