Groups protest cougar research project

River Runner

New member
02/13/02
MICHAEL MILSTEIN

Nine conservation and animal protection groups went to court Tuesday to
stop a $5.2 million state-federal research project that calls for killing
as many as 32 Oregon cougars to gauge the way the big cats influence elk
populations.

The groups argued that the study, which began in parts of northeast and
southwest Oregon in recent months, is "predator control in disguise." They
said it undermines citizen initiatives approved in 1994 and 1996 that gave
cougars and bears greater protection from hunting.

"This is not science, it's slaughter, and we want it stopped," said Sally
Mackler, wildlife coordinator for the Oregon Sierra Club, one of the groups
that sued in federal district court Tuesday in Portland.

The groups sought a preliminary injunction to halt the six-year project. A
hearing is likely within a few weeks.

Although the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is conducting the study
in parts of Wallowa and Douglas counties, the lawsuit targets the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service. The federal agency provided three-fourths of the
study's funding from federal fees on hunting equipment.

The groups allege the project did not meet the standards for the federal
money and that the federal wildlife agency did not thoroughly examine the
effects of the project before underwriting it.

The study grew out of concern about declining elk numbers in northeast
Oregon, promoting fears that hunters and the dollars they add to local
economies might drop, too. In 1999, the Legislature told wildlife officials
in a nonbinding budget note to study the connection between cougars and
bears and the elk and deer they prey upon.

Fish and Wildlife biologists drew up a study to examine the question in
Wallowa County and in eastern Douglas County, near Diamond Lake, where elk
herds were healthier. They called for capturing all cougars in the study
areas and fitting them with radio collars, and for similarly collaring
dozens of elk.

If tracking showed that cougars killed more than 30 percent of elk during
the first two years, then biologists would hunt down and remove half the
cougars in each area -- an estimated total of as many as 32 animals -- to
see whether elk rebounded.

The study aims to tell whether cougars control elk numbers, or whether they
kill animals already weakened by poor nutrition or harsh weather and likely
to die anyway, state biologist Bruce Johnson said.

Public comments heavily opposed the project.

Other scientists reviewed the study outline and raised questions,
suggesting, for instance, that it would be difficult to consistently
maintain cougar populations at half their normal levels. Those concerns
were addressed in later revisions of the study plan, Johnson said.

The study would remove only a fraction of the 311 cougars state biologists
killed statewide in 1999 to control threats to people, pets and livestock,
he said.

Groups filing the lawsuit Tuesday were the Sierra Club, Animal Protection
Institute, Cascadia Wildlands Project, Fund For Animals, Humane Society of
the United States, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Siskiyou Regional
Education Project, Umpqua Watersheds and The Mountain Lion Foundation.

You can reach Michael Milstein at 503-294-7689 or by e-mail at
michaelmilstein@news.oregonian.com.
 
Back
Top