War games, wild comeback: the bird saved by a target range

Sometimes the safest place for wildlife is where people aren’t allowed, and even live-fire can’t compete with isolation.

On San Clemente Island, a restricted training ground run by the United States Navy has doubled as a conservation zone, helping revive a rare “butcher bird,” the loggerhead shrike.

I have been scuba diving off San Clemente several times. While there, we were visited by Navy helicopters and jets. The offshore wildlife is also doing very well, likely due to restrictions.

Sometimes the safest place for wildlife is where people aren’t allowed, and even live-fire can’t compete with isolation.