3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018
In Washington state, hounds could chase cougars
Bill would
allow training
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. — A
Washington state lawmaker
says he will introduce a bill
authorizing hound hunters to
practice chasing cougars.
House Agriculture and Nat-
ural Resources Committee
Chairman Brian Blake said
he wants hound hunters, who
track troublesome cougars for
the Washington Department of
Fish and Wildlife, to stay sharp
and at the same time make the
big cats fear humans and dogs.
“The hope is that cougars
would learn to avoid humans
and dogs. They may hear a
Chihuahua yapping and decide
to go somewhere else,” said
Blake, D-Aberdeen. “They
wouldn’t be allowed to hunt
cougars. They’d be allowed
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Could hounds scare cougars?
to train their dogs so they’d be
available for the department.”
Washington voters in 1996
banned using hounds to hunt
for cougars, as well as black
bears, bobcats and lynxes. Fish
and Wildlife, however, still
relies on houndsmen to tree
and dispatch cougars that are
killing domestic animals or
threatening public safety.
Fish and Wildlife called on
a hound hunter to quickly track
down the healthy cougar that
killed a 32-year-old mountain
biker in May east of Seattle.
The cyclist was the first person
killed in the U.S. by a cougar
since a 55-year-old man was
killed in 2008 in New Mexico.
In September, a 55-year-old
woman was killed by a cougar
in the Mount Hood National
Forest in Oregon.
Fish and Wildlife calcu-
lates there are 2,300 adult cou-
gars in Washington state, plus
another 1,050 kittens. Blake
said he believes there are more
cougars. Other rural lawmak-
ers also say they’ve been hear-
ing from constituents who are
seeing more cougars. In Kelso,
a middle school football game
was canceled because a cougar
was reported near the school.
In response, Fish and Wild-
life held several public meet-
ings in southwest Washington
this fall. A meeting in Steven-
son on protecting livestock,
pets and humans drew about
35 people.
“I think the cats are get-
ting more brazen,” Klickitat
County rancher Keith Kreps
said Wednesday. “They’re get-
ting thick.”
Kreps has urged lawmak-
ers to loosen the prohibition on
using hounds to pursue cou-
gars in a handful of counties,
including Klickitat County.
“We’ve talked until we’re
blue in the face,” he said. “I’m
all for at least getting (hound
handlers) out there in the
woods to tree them.”
Wildlife biologists say
counting cougars is impossi-
ble. Studies suggest, however,
that there are an average of
2.2 adult cougars per about 39
square miles of habitat. Cou-
gars can be found throughout
Washington state, except in
bigger cities and large tracts of
Eastern Washington farmland,
according to Fish and Wildlife.
Fish and Wildlife doesn’t
know whether the cougar pop-
ulation is actually increasing,
or it’s just public perception,
Assistant Director for Wildlife
Eric Gardner said.
“We don’t have a great way
to answer that directly,” he said.
“If you’re near deer, it’s proba-
bly reasonable to think there are
more cougars.”
Fish and Wildlife estimates
there are 2,000 adult cougars
inhabiting land under the state’s
jurisdiction. The other cougars
are on tribal land or in national
parks. The department says
12 to 16 percent could be har-
vested each year without reduc-
ing the population. Hunters are
taking less than 10 percent,
according to the department.
That doesn’t necessarily
mean the population is grow-
ing, Gardner told the agricul-
ture committee at a meeting
Tuesday.
“Cougars for the most part
auto-regulate their numbers.
They’re territorial. They’re
prey dependent,” he said.
“There’s only so much space.”
Brown proposes big funding boost for Oregon State Police
Budget has 50
more troopers
By AUBREY WIEBER
Capital Bureau
For 26 years, Travis Hamp-
ton worked out of patrol offices
for the Oregon State Police.
Year after year, he saw calls
and car accidents increase as
the disparity between the pop-
ulation and number of troop-
ers grew.
Sitting in those offices,
he thought about the work he
would do if he ever climbed to
the top of the ranks.
“I always made myself the
promise that if I were ever in
this position, I would make
sure that citizens and legisla-
tors knew the dire straits we’re
in,” Hampton said.
Hampton is no longer in a
patrol post. As Oregon State
Police superintendent, he’s ful-
filled that promise.
Gov. Kate Brown is pro-
posing filling 50 trooper posi-
tions in the next state budget
that goes into effect in July.
That would be the big-
gest expansion of the state
patrol in recent years. Hamp-
ton said that could be the dif-
ference in whether a trooper is
on shift when you crash your
car in rural Oregon or stops a
drunken driver on Interstate 5
in the early morning.
As the trooper force dwin-
dled, Hampton has become
increasingly vocal about the
shortages. He says he’s not
comfortable with such advo-
cacy but he’d rather be annoy-
ing than cut services or lay
people off.
“Virtually my entire career
has been a plea for more
resources,” Hampton said.
Brown appointed him superin-
tendent in 2016.
Hampton, a Gresham
native, started with the state
police in 1990 when he was
19. He came on 10 years
after the state severed the tie
between gas tax revenue and
the trooper division.
That meant the state agency
had to compete with scores of
others for a share of general
Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter
Oregon State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton flips
through charts and graphs showing the impacts of short
staffing. In 2017, the agency was unable to respond to
11,880 calls for service due to staffing levels.
fund budgets.
Meantime, Hampton saw
Oregon’s population rise as
the number of troopers lagged.
When he started, the state
had 512 troopers. Today, it’s
budgeted for 454 positions.
That’s eight troopers for every
100,000 Oregonians. Only
Florida has a lower trooper per
capita ratio.
The bottom line of that
is troopers can’t respond to
every call. In 2017, the agency
recorded 11,880 calls for ser-
vice that it didn’t respond to,
or about 33 per day.
State police officials have
pushed for decades for more
funding, but never found a
governor sympathetic enough
to the agency’s shortfalls.
“We really have a cham-
pion in Gov. Brown, where we
have not in the past,” Hamp-
ton said.
When Brown announced
her budget, Hampton had
been told there would be some
incremental increases to keep
his operation afloat.
He was surprised to hear
the funding bump and her plan
to double the number of troop-
ers over the next decade.
“I was elated, thankful,”
Hampton said. “For the first
day I was afraid I was going
to wake up and it was a bad
dream.”
Hampton started lobbying
Brown 2 1/2 years ago when
Clatsop Post 12
Friday, December 7 th
Pearl Harbor Day
3pm
Program & Memorial
BBQ Rib • $ 8.00
Dinner
4pm ‘til Gone
77 th Anniversary Cake
6pm
“Karaoke Dave”
she interviewed him for the
job. He hasn’t stopped. Lead-
ing up to this budget cycle, he
often talked with her staff as
she pursued re-election.
Heidi Moawad, Brown’s
public safety adviser, said
Hampton was a strong advo-
cate for his agency. He showed
her that continuing to run on a
slim budget was “untenable.”
The added staffing, Hamp-
ton said, means there is a bet-
ter chance a trooper could
respond when someone
reports traffic threats, such as
a swerving vehicle. More than
one trooper might be able to
respond to a highway crash
to close off the road and pro-
vide medical attention. Some
patrol stations around the
state would return to 24-hour
operation.
Now, there are significant
gaps.
“You could conceiv-
ably enter the state in Ash-
land on I-5 at 3 in the morn-
ing behind a drunk driver and
leave the state four hours later
in Portland and not have a
state trooper on duty the entire
length of I-5,” Hampton said.
The state police do more
than patrol highways. They
manage sex offenders, autho-
rize gun sales, provide foren-
sic services and conduct fire
investigations. When such
services need money, Hamp-
ton’s usual option is to pull
from resources going to troop-
ers and criminal investiga-
tions. He typically gets money
by keeping trooper positions
empty — about 40.
He endures that cut to patrol
services as the state’s popula-
tion has skyrocketed, putting
more cars on the highways.
In 2011, there were just over
300 fatal crashes on Oregon
roadways. Fatalities peaked
in 2016 at 450 and have only
slightly lowered since.
Moawad said the state
needs more troopers on the
highway stopping speeders
and responding promptly to
accidents.
For years, the Oregon State
Police has lobbied for more
funding. In the current bud-
get, the agency was given $6
million for 20 new trooper and
detective positions. But it was
told to cut other spending by
$12 million.
“It’s literally me offering
to buy you lunch, then I steal
your wallet on the way out,”
Hampton said.
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
‘‘
At the Smokehouse Butcher Block we know
fresh cuts and smoked meats, however we
don’t know advertising. That is why we are
SO grateful for The Daily Astorian! We had
no idea how affordable and/or responsive a
simple, little advertisement with them would
be. Thank you for all of your help, Heather.
Nan & Jeremy
Smokehouse Butcher Block
ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION
1132 Exchange Street • 325-5771
MULTI-STATE
Oregon Included no-fee
$
80
OREGON ONLY
$
45
Required class to get an Oregon or multi-State permit.
Class includes:
• Fingerprinting & photo
• Oregon gun laws
• Washington gun laws
• Interstate travel laws
• Interaction with law enforcement
• Use of deadly force
• Firearm / ammunition / holster selection
December 14 th • 6p.m.
Best Western • 555 Hamburg Ave • Astoria
REACH
NEW CUSTOMERS!
n Drive More Business
n Find New Customers
n Marketing assistance from print/digital experts
n Gain Exposure. Over 10,000 Clatsop county readers every day
Talk to our customer success team today! 503.325.3211
T HE D AILY A STORIAN