
Santa Rosa Island is open to visitors after a search for people related to a drug cache turned up no one/NPS
Channel Islands National Park reopened Santa Rosa Island to visitors on Wednesday after nearly 3,000 pounds of marijuana, believed to be linked to a smuggling attempt, were recovered last week.
The 53,000-acre island off the California coast was closed to the public from October 26 to November 1 due to safety concerns. During that time, National Park Service rangers conducted aerial and ground searches and did not locate anybody that may have been affiliated with the drug cache.
Previously, Channel Islands Superintendent Russell Galipeau said the island would reopen “as soon as the risk is mitigated.”
On October 25, federal and local law enforcement personnel recovered 44 bundles of marijuana, weighing nearly 3,000 pounds, from Santa Rosa Island.
The island features six plant species that are only found on Santa Rosa, and a 13,000-year-old mammoth skull was discovered on the island earlier this year.