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April 11, 2003
Cougar-hunting compromise bill moves to full House vote
By DON JEPSEN, for the Medford Mail Tribune
SALEM — Legislation to allow dogs to be used in hunting cougars was approved by a House committee on Thursday as animal rights activists who had hoped to testify against it looked on in silence.
The compromise proposal overturns one provision of a 1994 initiative that banned hound hunting of both cougars and bears. It also banned the use of bait to lure bears.
The measure originally introduced this session sought to repeal the entire 1994 initiative. Under the compromise, bears would not be affected.
The bill is likely to pass the House but faces an uncertain future in the Senate. About 40 environmentalists packed the hearing room as the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee quickly moved the bill to the House floor with only one dissenting vote, Rep. Kelly Wirth, D-Corvallis.
Rep. Jeff Kropf, R-Sublimity, the chairman, earlier had promised opponents a half-hour Thursday to voice objections to the compromise.
But in a letter to Kelly Peterson, Oregon chapter of the National Humane Society, he retracted the offer after an amendment to allow baiting of problem bears was dropped from the bill.
Opponents had claimed they hadn’t been given adequate notice when the bill was first heard on March 20. As a result, only two showed up to testify —Peterson and Jim Ince, Azalea, a member of the Ashland-based Headwaters.
Kropf said he complied with the 24-hour notice rule for hearings, but admitted those who supported the bill were told much earlier. About 80 showed up, and many testified.
Supporters have cast the question of hound hunting for cougars as a safety issue. More sightings of the big cats are being reported near urban areas, posing a threat to humans and domestic animals, they say.
"We have a tremendous public safety problem," said Jerod Broadbent, a spokesman for Oregonians for Responsible Wildlife, a pro-hunting group. "If we don't do something, a child will be killed."
But Sally Mackler, Jacksonville, representing the Sierra Club, countered, "This is a trophy hunting statute, pure and simple."
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife would continue to set hunting seasons, bag limits and areas where cougars can be hunted. The 1967 Legislature made the cougar a game animal.
Don Jepsen is a free-lance writer living in Salem.
Cougar-hunting compromise bill moves to full House vote
By DON JEPSEN, for the Medford Mail Tribune
SALEM — Legislation to allow dogs to be used in hunting cougars was approved by a House committee on Thursday as animal rights activists who had hoped to testify against it looked on in silence.
The compromise proposal overturns one provision of a 1994 initiative that banned hound hunting of both cougars and bears. It also banned the use of bait to lure bears.
The measure originally introduced this session sought to repeal the entire 1994 initiative. Under the compromise, bears would not be affected.
The bill is likely to pass the House but faces an uncertain future in the Senate. About 40 environmentalists packed the hearing room as the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee quickly moved the bill to the House floor with only one dissenting vote, Rep. Kelly Wirth, D-Corvallis.
Rep. Jeff Kropf, R-Sublimity, the chairman, earlier had promised opponents a half-hour Thursday to voice objections to the compromise.
But in a letter to Kelly Peterson, Oregon chapter of the National Humane Society, he retracted the offer after an amendment to allow baiting of problem bears was dropped from the bill.
Opponents had claimed they hadn’t been given adequate notice when the bill was first heard on March 20. As a result, only two showed up to testify —Peterson and Jim Ince, Azalea, a member of the Ashland-based Headwaters.
Kropf said he complied with the 24-hour notice rule for hearings, but admitted those who supported the bill were told much earlier. About 80 showed up, and many testified.
Supporters have cast the question of hound hunting for cougars as a safety issue. More sightings of the big cats are being reported near urban areas, posing a threat to humans and domestic animals, they say.
"We have a tremendous public safety problem," said Jerod Broadbent, a spokesman for Oregonians for Responsible Wildlife, a pro-hunting group. "If we don't do something, a child will be killed."
But Sally Mackler, Jacksonville, representing the Sierra Club, countered, "This is a trophy hunting statute, pure and simple."
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife would continue to set hunting seasons, bag limits and areas where cougars can be hunted. The 1967 Legislature made the cougar a game animal.
Don Jepsen is a free-lance writer living in Salem.
