Drop poison on the Farallon Islands

Controversial plan to drop poison on the Farallon Islands gets green light

Andrew Chamings

A controversial plan to drop nearly 3,000 pounds of poison on San Francisco's Farallon Islands has been approved. 

The federal government plan to rid the wildlife refuge of tens of thousands of invasive mice, which has been debated for months, was approved in a 5-3 vote by the California Coastal Commission on Thursday. 

The rodenticide will be dropped from helicopters onto the islands 27 miles west of San Francisco.

The idea of dropping poison on one of the most precious and highly protected habitats in America was not welcomed by all.

The commission’s approval was granted despite opposition expressed at the hearing by one of the world's most distinguished conservationists, Dr. Jane Goodall, who said the airdrop of a "super-toxic rat poison" will "inflict pain and suffering on a great many sentient animals."

Richard Charter, with the coastal coordination program of the Ocean Foundation, said in an email to SFGATE, “For the California Coastal Commission, whose members are sworn to supposedly protect the California coast, to irrationally approve a proposal by the Biden Administration to spread a deadly multi-species ecosystem poison amidst our National Marine Sanctuary in Nancy Pelosi’s congressional district is beyond ironic, it’s totally incomprehensible.”

Nonetheless, a majority were convinced after hours of testimony and debate that it's the only solution to the "plague" of rodents that were first introduced by sailors over a century ago. 

The rocky outcrop of sea stacks and islands west of the Golden Gate is home to 300,000 breeding seabirds, as well as five species of seals and sea lions. That unique biodiversity, however, also includes more than 1,000 mice per acre, a population that has exploded in recent years. Ecologists argue that the mice pose a threat to endemic species, including salamanders, many species of bird and the Farallon cave cricket, a unique insect only found on the islands. 

“[Mice are] just covering the ground,” Pete Warzybok, Farallon Islands program leader for Point Blue Conservation Science research institute told the Marin Independent Journal in April. “During this time period, the island is riddled with mouse burrows. There are times when you walk outside and you actually see the ground undulating as the mice are running about below the surface. Quite frankly, it’s a horrifying sight. It’s like something right out of a horror movie.”

The commission included several conditions as part of the new approval, including requiring the federal government to provide final plans for the project to commission staff for review.

The agency plans on dropping the poisoned bait in the winter months when bird numbers are lowest.