BY CORINNE BOYER
PROPOSED COUGAR
LEGISLATION CHALLENGES
VOTER-APPROVED MEASURE
BILLS IN THE OREGON
LEGISLATURE
SEEK TO LEGALIZE
HUNTING COUGARS
WITH DOGS
PHOTO: WASHINGTON DEPT. OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
n 1994, Oregonians voted to ban the use of dogs to hunt
cougars and bears. In legislative sessions following the
passage of that ballot measure, however, lawmakers have
introduced bills aiming to dismantle and weaken Mea-
sure 18.
Since 2008, Senior Oregon Director and Rural Outreach
Director of the Humane Society of the United States Scott
Beckstead says he’s been fighting these efforts during every
legislative session.
Four bills have been introduced for the 2017 session that
began Feb. 1. Three of them would allow counties to opt out
of the ban on the use of hunting dogs and one, Senate Bill
458, would allow for the issue of controlled tags for hunting
with dogs.
Beckstead says the best science available shows that
hunting cougars has destabilized the population. The Hu-
mane Society of the United States and the Humane Society
International published Cecil 2: Trophy Hunting America’s
Lion, a report citing multiple sources that deem “trophy
hunting of mountain lions … internationally controversial,
unsustainable, inhumane, ineffective at reducing human-lion
conflicts, and harmful to populations and the environment.”
Sen. Chuck Thomsen, a Republican from Hood River,
is the sponsor of SB 458, which he says would address Or-
egon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s controlled removal
of cougars.
Problem cougars, defined by ODFW as cougars that pose
a threat to livestock, humans or pets, are “humanely eutha-
nized” by either law enforcement or the agency. Thomsen
says his bill would issue special permits to hunt cougars for
damage control.
“So I just thought instead of paying someone to do it, put
out a special tag and a bunch of people can apply for it and
[ODFW] will make some money while they’re doing it and
it won’t cost them anyway,” he says.
Oregon’s cougar hunting season is open year-round,
unless ODFW’s Cougar Management quotas have been
reached. ODFW estimates around 6,200 wild cougars live
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February 2, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com
within Oregon state lines and since 2015, the killing quota
has been set at 970 cougars per year.
Hunters must obtain a $15.50 cougar tag, and when a
cougar is killed, it must be brought to the agency within 10
days for inspection. Hunting is not allowed within city limits
or on private property. In all, the agency says, 543 cougars
were killed in Oregon in 2016.
Brian Wolfer, a cougar biologist with the ODFW, says
the agency follows guidelines set by the Cougar Manage-
ment Plan to determine when its necessary to kill a problem
cougar. He says the new Cougar Management Plan is slated
for an informational briefing on Aug. 4 and a rule-making
session on Oct. 14.
He declined to comment on research by multiple sources
contributing to the Humane Society Report citing that hunt-
ing destabilizes cougar populations.
Beckstead says, “The Oregon Cougar Management Plan
was rolled out in 2006, and it was instantly criticized by top
cougar biologist around the country as being deeply flawed
especially in terms of its population estimation models.”
Trophy hunters pose additional danger to Oregon’s cou-
gar populations, Beckstead says, because they’re typically
seeking the biggest specimens, and the largest animals tend
to be the ones keeping the rest of the population in check.
Leaving large dominant cougars in place, he adds, helps
the species regulate its own population, whereas hunting en-
courages cougars to roam outside of their territory.
Thomsen says it’s difficult to hunt cougars without dogs
and estimates that hunters would be willing to pay between
$1,500 and $2,000 to kill cougars labeled by ODFW as
problematic. “That’s the main idea, is to tell ODFW that,
look, if you’re going to shoot a cougar because you have to,
then at least put it up for a special permit.”
The Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division en-
forces Measure 18. OSP spends between 400 and 600 hours
a year on cougar enforcement, OSP Capt. Jeff Samuels says,
and officers generally detect about 6 to 15 cougars illegally
killed a year.
ODFW spokwsman Rick Hargrave also says he hasn’t
heard of many illegal hunting cases. “People would see
that, and I imagine there would be a lot of people reporting
that,” he says.
On Jan. 21, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Depart-
ment issued a press release reporting that a cougar hid-
ing under a deck was shot and killed by an officer after
the animal had attacked a neighborhood dog. The animals
cannot be tranquilized and relocated because they are very
territorial, according to Hargrave.
An AP story that picked up the initial Deschutes Coun-
ty Sheriff’s Department press release included the infor-
mation that the cougar was killed “less than a quarter mile
from a children’s day care.”
Scott Beckstead says the addition of the day care detail
is “political fear mongering.”
“It’s as though that somehow means that those chil-
dren were in danger,” he says. “There has never been a
single recorded attack by a wild, free roaming cougar in
Oregon.”
Beckstead says the timing and the language of the arti-
cle is suspect. “Before the 2015 session, a flurry of stories
came in from all over the state.”
While the debate over hunting cougars continues,
Thomsen says he’s unsure if his bill will receive a hearing.
“I’m a Republican, and we’re almost in the super mi-
nority, and a lot of times the Republican bills don’t even
get hearings,” Thomsen says. “It’s just the way it works
down there.”
Ultimately, Beckstead says, the bills are antidemocrat-
ic and the issue should be put back on the ballot if need
be. In addition to the passage of Measure 18, Beckstead
says voters reaffirmed their position in 1996 when a ballot
measure to repeal Measure 18 was defeated.
“Wildlife advocates are more than prepared to have
that conversation again, and we are confident the voters
will reaffirm their support for protecting cougars from
cruel and unethical hunting practices,” he says.