"News had barely broken of plans to eradicate thousands of nonnative mule deer on Santa Catalina Island before conservation biologist Lauren Dennhardt found herself the target of enraged Avalon residents.
In acidic emails, paid advertisements and insults uttered on the street, residents branded the plant expert an “eco-extremist” and “the woman who killed Bambi.” On her office phone at the Catalina Island Conservancy, a caller left a message warning, “I have guns and know how to use them.”
At one point, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department advised the senior director of conservation to move off the island for a few days and wait for passions to die down.
Now, barely a month later, emotions are still running high in this cozy harbor community of Victorian homes and beachfront cafes."
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