Making good on their pledge late last year, three California Democrats have introduced legislation to repeal a law that allows deer and elk hunting to continue on Santa Rosa Island.

The Star supports the move Thursday by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer and Rep. Lois Capps, of Santa Barbara.

"Santa Rosa Island is a rare and natural place. But a measure slipped into the Defense Authorization bill late last year could cut off public access to the island for months at a time," Sen. Feinstein said in a statement. "This bill would repeal this provision and restore full public access to Santa Rosa Island all year long."

The Star opposed efforts by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, to void a federal court settlement mandating that non-native game be removed from Santa Rosa Island, a part of the Channel Islands National Park. Under that agreement, the non-native deer and elk were to be removed and private hunting trips on the public island were to end by 2011.

But, after two failed attempts, Rep. Hunter prevailed. The powerful head of the House Armed Services Committee was able to insert language into the final version of last year's defense bill that would permit hunting on the island to continue indefinitely. The bill passed the House and Senate and was signed into law by President Bush.

From the beginning, Rep. Hunter's motivation has been a mystery. The island is not in the congressman's district and he says he has never set foot on it. It was equally puzzling why he would fight Rep. Capps in whose district the island lies.

Further, Rep. Hunter's plan was for disabled veterans to be able to hunt for free on the island even though the disabled veterans group he initially enlisted for support decided the idea was unworkable and withdrew support.

The whys behind Rep. Hunter's effort to wrest the island from the public will probably never be known. But it matters little. What's important is that the Democrats, who are now in the majority in Congress, will likely be successful in overturning the law.

What Rep. Hunter never understood was that the 53,000-acre island is public land, bought with taxpayer money for $30 million in 1986 from the Vail cattle ranching family.

His law effectively put the park off-limits during these private trophy hunts to the public for long periods of time, for safety reasons. It also interfered with Park Service efforts to restore the island's natural habitat.

We urge lawmakers to support the newly introduced legislation and to give Santa Rosa Island back to the public.