Scott Bruun: Oregon’s Cougar Problem
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Spat the young woman, dripping with contempt. Before this, my wife and I had been standing with others on Taylor Street near the library. It was a long time ago, 1994, but if memory serves we were waiting to watch the Rose Festival Parade.
The young woman, wearing a sandwich-board across her shoulders, was slowly making her way down the line of bystanders. On the board were cute color photos of little bear cubs and cougar kittens. She had a clipboard in hand and was, we would learn, collecting signatures to put Measure 18 on the ballot.
When she got to us, all smiles, she asked if we would like to sign the petition to “protect Oregon’s bear and cougar from cruel and unfair hunting methods?”
Despite the factually-inaccurate sloganeering built into the woman’s question, my wife politely replied: “No thank you, we support hunting.”
This was not the response the signature-gatherer was expecting. Until us, it seems, pickings had been pretty easy. But now in a flash her eyes narrowed, her cheeks pursed, she belched-out her “why don’t you educate yourself?!” dogma, then turned on her heels and stomped away.
Alright then, let’s educate ourselves.
Measure 18 passed in 1994, capturing 52 percent of the vote. Slogan-woman won the day. Among other things, Measure 18 banned the use of dogs for cougar hunting in Oregon. In other words, as dogs remain the only feasible method to hunt cougar, Measure 18 effectively ended cougar hunting in Oregon.
Mostly nocturnal, cougars are the stealthiest of predators. An Oregonian could spend just about every weekend of her life hiking Oregon’s beautiful backwoods and still never see a cougar. This is probably a good thing. But make no mistake, they are out there.
Before Measure 18, the state managed its cougar population the way it manages all other large species. Through hunters. For cougar, hunters using dogs to track and tree the animal. This method certainly provides no guarantee for hunters. Yet still, given the allusiveness of the cougar, dogs were the only path to any real chance of success.
Now, with the dog-ban in place for twenty years, cougar populations have exploded.
Which is also why, every year, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife pays professional agents to “harvest” cougar in order to partially manage populations. And the method these taxpayer-funded agents use to hunt Oregon’s big cats? You guessed it. Dogs.
So today, just to be clear, Oregon law prohibits citizen-hunters from using dogs to hunt cougar. Oregon’s prohibition of the only viable method means there are now many fewer cougar hunters (and many more cougar). With fewer hunters, Oregon also forfeits much of the license and tag revenues that would otherwise be available for wildlife and habitat preservation.
Still, cougar populations must be managed (won’t do to have a really big kitty show up your kid’s soccer game, after all). So, as dogs remain the only feasible method to track cougar, the State of Oregon is using your money to pay professional hunters – using dogs - to kill cougar.
Seems a little silly, doesn’t it? Well, welcome to Oregon!
There are about 5,000 cougar in Oregon. Wildlife managers say that the “right” number is closer to 4,000. There are reasons for this population target, including the fact that cougar kill and eat about one deer a week – meaning cougar are killing about 260,000 deer in Oregon annually.
Last year the cougar hunt quota was set at 970. We never came close. Cougar mortality last year was only 135, with 62 percent of those taken by state-paid agents using dogs. So here we are, unhappy hunters and too many cougar.
Can we be smarter than this? Isn’t it ridiculous that we prohibit use of dogs by Oregon’s recreational hunters, then turn around and pay professional hunters for the same? Shouldn’t Oregon’s legislature amend the law even if it stays true to the spirit of Measure 18?
So how about a compromise? How about creating a lottery where each year, say, 150 hunters are allowed to use dogs for cougar? Charge a premium for these special tags. Oregon hunters want to hunt and they are willing to pay for it if there’s a reasonable chance of success, after all. Finally, dedicate the use of tag proceeds for habitat preservation.
It’s not perfect. Then again, neither was Measure 18. It is though a small step toward smarter wildlife management.
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