Washington Hunter
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GUEST VIEWPOINT
State ignores protections for cougars
By Jeff Long
Published: Thursday, March 29, 2007
In 1994, Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved Measure 18 to ban the use of hounds for hunting cougars, as well as the use of bait or hounds for hunting black bears. Voters did so not only because they believe the practice of cornering animals with a pack of hounds is unsportsmanlike, but also because they support conserving the state's wildlife. They had hoped the initiative would end decades of persecution of cougars and afford the wild cats the protection they deserve.
Tragically, more cougars are being killed now than before Measure 18 was passed.
While it is still illegal for hunters to chase cougars with hounds, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has bent over backwards to assuage hunters still fuming over the hounding ban. For instance, the ODFW has reduced cougar tag fees to a meager $11.50, extended the cougar hunting season to 10 months and in some areas year-round, and permitted hunters to kill two cougars per year. The very intent of Measure 18 - to safeguard one of Oregon's most majestic species - has been significantly undermined.
According to a March 17 report by The (Medford) Mail Tribune, "Sport hunters killed a record 284 cougars in Oregon last year, helping lead to the highest total mortality of cougars ever logged in the state. The increase in sport-hunting kills occurred despite the 1994 ban on hound-hunting - which once was the most common form of cougar hunting - in part because more hunters in the woods now carry cougar tags. The 38,719 cougar tags sold in 2006 also were a record, as were 442 documented cougar kills overall for damage and human safety and by other means, such as poaching or roadkills, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife."
The ODFW readily admits more cougars are being killed in Oregon than ever before. Ron Anglin, ODFW's Wildlife Division administrator, told the Mail Tribune, "Our stats go back into the '70s and these are the highest we're ever recorded. ... Now, the majority of sport hunters who shoot cougars do so while hunting deer, elk or other species and stumbling upon a cougar."
To add insult to injury, the ODFW has launched its Cougar Management Plan, which calls for expansive use of lethal controls to "manage" cougars. There is no scientific justification for such an aggressive approach to addressing perceived conflicts with cougars. Nor are cougars a threat to public safety. There has not been a verified cougar attack on humans in Oregon in modern times, and nothing in the management plan would prevent an attack.
In addition, the agency's continued emphasis on killing cougars will divert resources away from techniques that are far more effective in reducing conflicts, such as appropriate land-use planning, improved animal husbandry, and public education.
Rather than killing cougars, the ODFW should be encouraging people to avoid feeding wildlife, bring pets in at night, shelter domestic farm and ranch animals, install motion-sensing lights around their property, recreate with others while in cougar country, and educate family members about cougars to reduce conflicts with the cats.
Finally, trophy hunters and their allies in the Legislature are back this year with proposals to gut Measure 18. House Bill 2971, would permit the ODFW to deputize hunters with hounds to kill cougars. This is yet another end run around the ban and should be summarily rejected by lawmakers.
It is obvious the ODFW believes it is not accountable to Oregonians. It is time Gov. Ted Kulongoski reined in this rogue agency by halting the Cougar Management Plan, replacing the department's old boy network with staff that truly cares about our state's wildlife, and oppose any efforts to roll back Measure 18. Otherwise, the governor's legacy will be the massive slaughter of one of nature's most awe-inspiring creatures.
Jeff Long of Eugene is a board member of the Cascadia Wildlands Project, www.cascwild.org.
State ignores protections for cougars
By Jeff Long
Published: Thursday, March 29, 2007
In 1994, Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved Measure 18 to ban the use of hounds for hunting cougars, as well as the use of bait or hounds for hunting black bears. Voters did so not only because they believe the practice of cornering animals with a pack of hounds is unsportsmanlike, but also because they support conserving the state's wildlife. They had hoped the initiative would end decades of persecution of cougars and afford the wild cats the protection they deserve.
Tragically, more cougars are being killed now than before Measure 18 was passed.
While it is still illegal for hunters to chase cougars with hounds, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has bent over backwards to assuage hunters still fuming over the hounding ban. For instance, the ODFW has reduced cougar tag fees to a meager $11.50, extended the cougar hunting season to 10 months and in some areas year-round, and permitted hunters to kill two cougars per year. The very intent of Measure 18 - to safeguard one of Oregon's most majestic species - has been significantly undermined.
According to a March 17 report by The (Medford) Mail Tribune, "Sport hunters killed a record 284 cougars in Oregon last year, helping lead to the highest total mortality of cougars ever logged in the state. The increase in sport-hunting kills occurred despite the 1994 ban on hound-hunting - which once was the most common form of cougar hunting - in part because more hunters in the woods now carry cougar tags. The 38,719 cougar tags sold in 2006 also were a record, as were 442 documented cougar kills overall for damage and human safety and by other means, such as poaching or roadkills, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife."
The ODFW readily admits more cougars are being killed in Oregon than ever before. Ron Anglin, ODFW's Wildlife Division administrator, told the Mail Tribune, "Our stats go back into the '70s and these are the highest we're ever recorded. ... Now, the majority of sport hunters who shoot cougars do so while hunting deer, elk or other species and stumbling upon a cougar."
To add insult to injury, the ODFW has launched its Cougar Management Plan, which calls for expansive use of lethal controls to "manage" cougars. There is no scientific justification for such an aggressive approach to addressing perceived conflicts with cougars. Nor are cougars a threat to public safety. There has not been a verified cougar attack on humans in Oregon in modern times, and nothing in the management plan would prevent an attack.
In addition, the agency's continued emphasis on killing cougars will divert resources away from techniques that are far more effective in reducing conflicts, such as appropriate land-use planning, improved animal husbandry, and public education.
Rather than killing cougars, the ODFW should be encouraging people to avoid feeding wildlife, bring pets in at night, shelter domestic farm and ranch animals, install motion-sensing lights around their property, recreate with others while in cougar country, and educate family members about cougars to reduce conflicts with the cats.
Finally, trophy hunters and their allies in the Legislature are back this year with proposals to gut Measure 18. House Bill 2971, would permit the ODFW to deputize hunters with hounds to kill cougars. This is yet another end run around the ban and should be summarily rejected by lawmakers.
It is obvious the ODFW believes it is not accountable to Oregonians. It is time Gov. Ted Kulongoski reined in this rogue agency by halting the Cougar Management Plan, replacing the department's old boy network with staff that truly cares about our state's wildlife, and oppose any efforts to roll back Measure 18. Otherwise, the governor's legacy will be the massive slaughter of one of nature's most awe-inspiring creatures.
Jeff Long of Eugene is a board member of the Cascadia Wildlands Project, www.cascwild.org.
