View from space of Southern California coast, showing Santa Catalina Island (closer to mainland) and San Clemente Island (further from mainland). San Clemente Island or SCI is the southernmost of the Channel Islands of California. It is owned and operated by the United States Navy, and is a part of Los Angeles County. It is 18 miles (29 kilometers) long and contains 56 m²/35,840 acres (145 km²/14,504 hectares) of land.
History
Archeologists have found traces of human occupation on the San Clemente Island dating back 10,000 years, a remarkable figure for an island 55 miles (88.5 km) out to sea, but consistent with results on other Channel Islands.
Later inhabitants left trade materials from the northern islands and from the mainland, including Coso obsidian from the California desert. It has not been established what tribe the recent inhabitants belonged to, though they probably were in the Chumash "interaction sphere".
The island was named by Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino, who spotted it on November 23, 1602, Saint Clement's feast day. It was used by ranchers, fishermen, and smugglers during the 19th century and into the 20th century.
The city of San Clemente in Orange County, California is named after the island.
Navy base The U.S. Navy acquired the island in 1934. It is the Navy's only remaining ship-to-shore live firing range and is the center of the integrated air/land/sea San Clemente Island Range Complex covering 2,620 nm² (8,986 km²).
It is an active sonar base and has a $21 million simulated embassy for commando training. Between 1957 and 1960 Polaris rockets were fired from SCI for test purposes.
There is also an U.S. Navy rocket-test facility on San Clemente. It is situated at 32°55' N and 118°30' W. Some test rockets of the Polaris-program test rocket were launched from San Clemente between 1957 and 1960.
Wildlife The San Clemente Island Loggerhead Shrike is an endangered species that the Navy is taking steps to protect. The San Clemente Island Fox is an indigenous species. Feral goats roamed the island for centuries, reaching a population of 11,000 in 1972, when their effect on indigenous species was realized. By 1980 the population had been reduced to 4,000. A plan for shooting remaining goats was blocked in court by the Fund for Animals, so the goats were removed with nets and helicopters. The San Clemente Goat is a recognized breed of domestic goat. The coves around the island are visited by divers attracted by the abundant sea life, including sea lions, lobsters, hydrocoral and kelp forests.
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