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Groups protest cougar research project
02/13/02
MICHAEL MILSTEIN, The Oregonian
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.
02/13/02
MICHAEL MILSTEIN, The Oregonian
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.
