Nebraska mountain lion hunting to end

[Big Fin]

It comes as no surprise that politics and the ballot box are used to make wildlife decisions and those making the votes are seldom qualified to understand that science related to the wildlife management challenges. That can be said of legislators passing bills or citizens voting on ballot initiatives.

The link below is about as blatant as any politcal hacking as I have seen in a while.

http://www.omaha.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140217/OUTDOORS/140218910#.UwNyZFin1JE.facebook

Nebraska's wildlife division was given authority to implement a limited mountain lion season. They had the first season last year.

Now, politicians are holding the legislative funding for the agency as hostage to force others to cave in and eliminate the mountain lion season. Simplest terms, no additional Parks funding if you want to use hunting as a mountain lion management tool.

If these news reports are accurate, it seems one side is very open about the fact that they are going to stop the lion season for personal reasons; a dislike of hunting. And the other side is very open about the fact that they are willing to allow that to happen in the name of "political compromise."

What is being compromised is not budgets, or politics, rather the principle of hunting as one of the most effective management tools for how we manage species. And the principle that we leave the wildlife management policy to people who know what they are doing.

It comes across as an attack against hunting based on personal biases against hunting, not anything to do with willdlife management. Not that hunting as a management tool hasn't been compromised before by politicians, just seems rather blatantly stated in this instance and in a state where I never expected such to occur.

Guess I always thought of Nebraska as some great common sense people. I spent a lot of time there in years past and respected how pragmatic and friendly they are. Is the political tide of Colorado's Front Range now extending to metro-Nebraska?

 

[Southwind]

I always cringe when wildlife management is attempted by legislature.

 

[Zach]

One more reason it's a bad idea to combine parks & rec with wildlife.

Not sure if it's the Front Range extending East or the Midwest moving more west(like it did to CA 20-30 yrs ago).

Haar said the challenge for Game and Parks will be to manage cougars without hunting. Safety must be the top priority, he said, followed by managing the natural reintroduction of mountain lions to the state. Hunting, he said, will have to be the last priority.

So why not take a model similar to Wyo Wolf? Have zones where they cougars are an issue. Am I off in my thinking?

 

[smw110136]

Nebraksa is my home state, so I have been following the mountain lion stories forever and was excited to see a season open up. Most of the cats live in the far NW corner of the state. That being said, I grew up on the western half of the state, and graduated a couple years ago from the Univeristy in Lincoln. The eastern side of the state is far more populated and this is where all of the political power is. So we run into a lot of issues where the eastern (political side) of the state thinks they know what is best for the small town communities on the western half. Politicians out east dont understand the important job NE G&P is doing to manage populations of mountain lions in the state. What we have here sounds a lot like what westerners are dealing with in wolf politics, just on a much smaller scale.

On a lighter note, the quota was met on Nebraska's fist lion season when two hunters killed toms on the same day in the pine ridge area. A light snow fell the night before and the hunters were able to cut fresh tracks and get the dogs out. The picture attached is the smaller of the two toms killed. I can't remember which one it was, but one of the two cats was shot on a public wildlife management area.

 

[roadhunter]

Second season Just started this week. Will be interesting to see how well the hunters do with no dogs.

Nebraska's Inaugural Lion Hunt Over - For Now

Tom Ferry, the winning bidder at a Nebraska Big Game Society auction, and 16-year old, high school sophomore Holden Bruce, who won the statewide hunting tag lottery, both killed their trophy mountain lions thus ending the first phase of Nebraska's inaugural lion hunt on the second day of a 45-day season in the Pine Ridge section of the state.

The two lions that were killed, a five-year old, 150-pound male for Ferry, and a two-year old, 102-pound dispersing sub-adult male for Bruce, represent approximately 10 percent of Nebraska's entire estimated lion population.

As of February 15th, 100 other hunters, whose names were drawn in the same lottery that Bruce won, will renew the hunt in the Pine Ridge section. This second season will not include the use of hounds, and will continue through March 31st or until two more males, or a female lion has been killed.

Despite the closure of the Pine Ridge hunting area, mountain lion hunting will continue in the Prairie Unit which encompasses about 85 percent of Nebraska. Lion hunting in this area will be year-round, not restricted by lottery and only cost $15 per hunting tag.

Nebraska Game and Parks officials claim that their objective, for allowing the hunting of the 22 lions estimated to exist within the state, was to provide Nebraska's hunters with unique recreational opportunities.

State Senator Ernie Chambers of Omaha has announced his plans to try to repeal a 2012 law that permitted the commission to establish the mountain lion seasons.

 

[mr_steve]

There is definitely a disconnect between the east and west in Nebraska. Similar to North Dakota. Frustrating when a politician makes statements and agendas without experiencing what is being opposed or truly asking the people.

 

[sbhooper]

Our wonderful Ernie Chambers from ghetto Omaha was the prime reason for it. Ernie has his good points, but he needs to stay out of stuff that he has no knowledge of.

I believe that the total estimated lion population in Nebraska is hog wash. They have no way to know how many there are. The was just one killed with a snare near Taylor, Nebraska on the 16th. It was a 150-pound cat and not good to have around during calving season. That is ranch country.

There are people all over the state that have seen cats. They are nearly everywhere now from the river bottoms to the Sandhills. There is no way to estimate a population the way they are in this state.

People just don't learn that politics have no place in wildlife management.

 

[smw110136]

Update to the mountain lion season "controversy"

http://www.omaha.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140328/OUTDOORS/140328667/1001

 

[JoseCuervo]

Our wonderful Ernie Chambers from ghetto Omaha was the prime reason for it. Ernie has his good points, but he needs to stay out of stuff that he has no knowledge of.

I believe that the total estimated lion population in Nebraska is hog wash. They have no way to know how many there are. The was just one killed with a snare near Taylor, Nebraska on the 16th. It was a 150-pound cat and not good to have around during calving season. That is ranch country.

There are people all over the state that have seen cats. They are nearly everywhere now from the river bottoms to the Sandhills. There is no way to estimate a population the way they are in this state.

People just don't learn that politics have no place in wildlife management.

1234----- Never mind..... carry on.

 

[sbhooper]

What was that little tidbit suppose to be, Jose?

 

[muleguy]

April 4 update

Attempts to Ban Mountain Lion Hunting Fail in Nebraska
Posted on April 4, 2014

Just days after Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman vetoed LB 671—the mountain lion hunting ban—the state’s senate considered a motion to override the veto. Pushed by Senator Ernie Chambers, the motion needed 30 votes to pass but only garnered 24 yes votes. A second, and final, vote to override the veto was taken on Thursday and also failed to reach the needed 30 vote threshold.

“This is a huge win for sportsmen and scientific wildlife management, not only in Nebraska but across the country,” said Nick Pinizzotto, USSA’s president and CEO. “Our wildlife management system is designed to be free of political maneuvering and gamesmanship. Nebraska sportsmen should thank Governor Heineman for vetoing this bill and the sportsmen-friendly legislators that sustained the veto.”

This effort started the opening day of the 2014 legislative session, when LB 671 was introduced to overturn Nebraska’s newly established mountain lion hunting season. The measure, introduced by Senator Chambers, would have removed the authority of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to manage the state’s growing mountain lion population.

Senator Chambers made this his top priority for the 2014 legislative session, declaring that he would oppose every proposal of the state’s Game and Parks Commission until the mountain lion season was banned.

“The mountain lion season was unanimously approved by the legislature in 2012,” said Pinizzotto. “Holding the Game and Parks Commission hostage over the mountain lion season is the exact reason we’ve tried to remove politics from wildlife management. This issue has nothing to do with managing wildlife and everything to do with anti-hunting sentiment.”

In response, sportsmen from throughout Nebraska flooded the capitol with phone calls, letters, and emails opposing LB 671.

“It was great to see the hunting community come together in opposition to this bill,” said Pinizzotto. “USSA worked closely with the Nebraska Sportsmen’s Foundation to defeat LB 671. In addition, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Nebraska Big Game Society, Nebraska Fur Harvesters, the Nebraska State Chapter of NWTF, Prairie Bowmen Lincoln, the Nebraska State Chapter of SCI, Whitetails Unlimited and others all played critical roles in the effort.”

On Friday, March 28th, Governor Heineman vetoed the bill, sending a strong message of support for sportsmen and the professionals at the Game and Parks Commission. In his veto message, Governor Heineman stated “Nebraskans expect responsible wildlife management. LB 671 eliminates an important tool used to accomplish it. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission should retain the ability to determine those management actions which are necessary to protect both the health and safety of our citizens and the wildlife in our state. Removing the agency’s authority to manage mountain lions through hunting at this time is poor public policy.”

“This a great day for sportsmen in Nebraska,” said Scott Smathers, Executive Director of the Nebraska Sportsmen’s Foundation. “The partnership with USSA was invaluable to stopping this misguided bill. The grassroots support from sportsmen across Nebraska provided the much needed pressure to keep the senators in our corner.”

Take Action! Nebraska sportsmen should call Governor Dave Heineman at (402)-471-2244. Thank him for his strong show of support for sportsmen and scientific wildlife management.