[ODFW-News] Four more opportunities exist for public comment on draft cougar management plan

[ODFW News]

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Contact: Brad Wurfel, 503-947-6020

Internet: www.dfw.state.or.us  

For immediate release       Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Four more opportunities exist for public comment on draft cougar
management plan


SALEM - The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife continues to seek
public comments about the proposed update to the Cougar Management Plan.


 

"ODFW is charged with managing fish and wildlife populations throughout
Oregon," said Ron Anglin, ODFW Wildlife Division administrator. "The
agency is holding these meetings to hear from the public how they want
cougars managed." 

 

Cougars are an Oregon success story, noted Anglin. After being nearly
eliminated by the mid-1960s, cougars today have a healthy population
estimated at slightly more than 5,000. Hunters played an important role
in this reversal by proposing a legislative change to the status of
cougars from a predator to a game mammal. This ended the unlimited
taking of cougars and allowed ODFW to establish limits on the numbers of
cougars that could be harvested annually.

 

"Unfortunately, as both the cougar and human populations have grown,"
said Anglin, "the numbers of conflicts and damage complaints also have
grown. This draft management plan attempts to address those conflicts
while ensuring a healthy cougar population."

 

Anglin stressed that the draft plan establishes a minimum cougar
population, but does not set a targeted cougar population level or any
kind of ceiling. The actual changes in harvest quotas for cougars are
relatively minimal given the size of the cougar population, he noted.

 

"Big game regulations for 2006 propose a hunting quota of 668 cougars
compared to 580 in 2005," said Anglin. "The adaptive resource management
proposed in the draft cougar management plan would set the limit for all
cougar mortalities regardless of cause at 782." Causes of mortalities
could include hunting, damage and human safety situations, and vehicle
collisions.

 

One of the key areas of concern among the public, noted Anglin, has been
how the draft plan addresses the issue of using hounds to hunt cougars. 

 

"There is no proposed change to current law," he said. "ODFW works
within the framework of the law. Oregonians have twice said through
initiative petition that hounds may not be used to hunt cougars, and the
Legislature and Governor have agreed with that stance. This draft plan
abides by that determination."

 

However, he added, existing law does allow federal and state employees
to use the full range of management tools, including hounds and snares
but not poisons, to deal with cougars that are causing human, pet or
livestock conflicts. 

 

"ODFW will continue to respond to safety and damage complaints," he
said. "Problem cougars that pose a risk to humans, pets or livestock
will be humanely euthanized." 

 

The remaining public meetings to discuss the draft plan take place at
the following dates and locations. All meetings begin at 7 p.m. and last
until 9 p.m.

 

*	Thursday, Aug. 25, Bend: National Guard Armory, 875 SW Simpson
Ave.

*	Monday, Aug. 29, Roseburg: Umpqua Community College Jacoby
Auditorium, 1140 College Rd.

*	Tuesday, Aug. 30, Medford: Jackson County Courthouse Auditorium,
10 S. Oakdale Ave.

*	Wednesday, Aug. 31, Klamath Falls: Oregon State University
Extension Auditorium, 3328 Vandenberg Rd.