[From the March 2012 Mazama Bulletin]
By Barbara Weiss
The Mazamas have recently taken positions on current issues facing both the cougar and wolf populations in Oregon.
In 1994 Oregon voters approved a cougar-hunting ban. Since then many rural residents have argued that the large cats pose a threat to humans and pets as well as to livestock. Voters refused to reverse the ban in 1996, but state figures showed a sharp increase in the number of cougars.
According to an April 2011 article on oregonlive.com by Jeff Mapes of the Oregonian, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has “expanded cougar hunting without hounds and made it cheap to get tags.” The result of this action was that more hunters bagged “as many cougars without dogs as they did before the ban.”
Supporters of a bill that is currently under consideration by the Oregon State legislature say that the use of dogs wearing collars with radio transmitters dramatically increases efficiencies because the dogs typically tree the cougars which are then shot by hunters.
HB 4199 directs the Fish and Wildlife commission to set up a pilot project on the use of dogs to hunt or pursue cougars. The Mazamas have taken an action to oppose this bill based on data that indicates:
- There are currently more cougars killed each year now by hunters than there were before hound hunting was banned.
- The state has numerous tools (including dogs) at its disposal to target the occasional problem cougar that may be coming too close to human communities.
We stood in support of judicious use of management tools now available to ODFW to address the problem.
We also joined a Sierra Club-led coalition to oppose HB 4158, a measure before the Oregon legislature that provides easier means to issue kill orders for wolves in Oregon. This bill permits the elimination of wolves in the event that they have preyed on livestock.
Oregon established its first wolf bounty in 1843, bringing to bear more than a century of persecution that led to the end of the wolf population. The last animal submitted for bounty was taken in 1946 in the Umpqua National Forest. From then until 1974, no gray wolves were recorded in Oregon.
Today, Oregon’s wolf management plan allows the state to remove wolves involved in “chronic livestock depredation.” Currently farmers are compensated by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for the full loss of any livestock proven to be a wolf kill. At issue is whether the state and effected ranchers are taking enough non-lethal measures to prevent wolf/livestock conflicts before resorting to lethal means of control.
There are fewer than 30 wolves in Oregon’s packs. In the fall of 2011, a judge blocked a state order targeting two wolves in Oregon’s Imnaha pack, including the pack’s alpha male. The state order would result in the elimination of the first wolf pack that has begun breeding in Oregon in more than six decades.
In mid-February both bills were sent to the Ways and Means Committee and will be referred to a subcommittee for future work sessions.
Issues around how to allow cougars and wolves to live alongside humans and domesticated livestock are complicated with plenty of passion on both sides. There are no easy answers. And there will likely always be conflicts between ranchers and horse owners, and cougars and wolves. It is important, though, that we seek a thoughtful, balanced approach to how we manage these populations while being respectful of the real impact experienced by rural ranchers and landowners.