The INDEPENDENT, September 21, 2006
Do cougar hunts reduce attacks?
Does sport hunting moun-
tain lions reduce attacks on
people and livestock?
State wildlife agencies
across the American West
must re-examine their moun-
tain lion management strate-
gies, following a study released
August 7, by the Mountain Lion
Foundation.
Although wildlife agencies
often argue that sport hunting
is necessary to reduce moun-
tain lion attacks, the study
found no evidence to support
this belief.
The study compared the rel-
ative numbers of mountain lion
attacks on people and livestock
in states with mountain lion
sport hunting to the number of
attacks in California – a state
without mountain lion sport
hunting.
“If sport hunting actually re-
duced attacks,” said Christo-
pher Papouchis, conservation
biologist and author of the
study, “then states with sport
hunting should have had rela-
tively fewer attacks than Cali-
fornia. That was not the case.”
The study found there were
fewer attacks on people and
livestock in California than in
many states where lions are
sport hunted, relative to num-
ber of people, livestock and
square miles of mountain lion
habitat.
Further, the study found Cal-
ifornia kills the fewest mountain
lions of all states with viable
mountain lion populations.
California’s hunting ban pro-
vided an excellent case-study,
under real-life situations over a
period of 34 years, to examine
the relationship of sport hunting
to attacks on humans and live-
stock, according to the study’s
author.
While the study’s author and
mountain lion conservation ad-
vocates acknowledge this
study cannot absolutely “prove”
that sport hunting is not an ef-
fective conflict-reduction strate-
gy, they argue the evidence
certainly forces wildlife agen-
cies to look for proven strate-
gies.
“From this point forward,”
says Lynn Sadler, president of
the Mountain Lion Foundation,
“any state agency that claims
sport hunting is anything more
than the random shooting of
mountain lions for fun will have
to prove it.”
The full study can be found
at www.pumaconservation.org.
The Mountain Lion Founda-
tion is a national non-profit
wildlife conservation and educa-
tion organization, dedicated
since 1986 to Saving America’s
Lion™. The Mountain Lion
Foundation is a leading authori-
ty on the conservation of moun-
tain lions and their habitat.
Be prepared
From page 7
paredness Month events on
the Citizen Corps site, at
<www.citizencorps.gov>.”
The “Are You Ready” guide
is also available from FEMA’s
publications warehouse by
calling 800-480-2520.
FEMA manages federal re-
sponse and recovery efforts
following national incidents.
FEMA also initiates mitigation
activities, works with state and
local emergency managers,
and manages the National
Flood Insurance Program.
FEMA became part of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Se-
curity on March 1, 2003.
National
Preparedness
Month 2006 is a nationwide ef-
fort sponsored by the U.S. De-
partment of Homeland Security
to encourage Americans to
take simple steps to prepare
for emergencies in their
homes,
businesses
and
schools. National Prepared-
ness Month events and activi-
ties are voluntary. DHS is not
financially obligated to any Na-
tional Preparedness Month
Coalition Member.
Page 17
Did You Know…
By Chief Mathew Workman
Vernonia Police Department
I want
to thank
everyone
w h o
came out
to sup-
port the
Police,
Fire, and
EMS during the Silent Parade
on 9/11. The support means so
much to all of us and the fact
that we are not the only ones
who will never forget that fateful
day in our history. I would en-
courage everybody to be mind-
ful of the sacrifices so many
people have made to keep our
country free and safe.
The first topic I want to ad-
dress is that of service dogs. A
recent question was raised that
I did not have a complete an-
swer to, but I was fortunate
enough to get a complete an-
swer from a local resident.
Some important points about
service dogs to remember are:
they are allowed in all busi-
nesses and public places, the
handler is liable for the animal’s
behavior, not all service dogs
are the same and are used for
a variety of disabilities or serv-
ices, the type of leash or vest
will vary from program to pro-
gram, not all programs certify
or provide certificates, busi-
nesses are not allowed to ask
for credentials or to ask about
handler disabilities.
Service dogs are quite com-
mon in the larger cities but can
and will be seen in the rural
W illiams
M etal
F ab
Custom Fabrication & Welding
All Metals Including
Stainless Steel & Aluminum
Portable W ELDING A VAILABLE
5 0 3 - 4 2 9 - 84 3 1
17819 Noakes Rd., Vernonia, Oregon
cities like Vernonia. If you see a
service dog do not try to pet or
talk to it. Service dogs are “al-
ways” working. A service dog
may be watching or sensing
their handlers for seizures or
other signs. Any distraction will
inhibit their abilities. Make sure
your children understand what
a service animal is and why
they should not distract them.
For more information you can
visit the link on the VPD web-
site under “Service Dog Infor-
mation.”
The last item I want to ad-
dress is the topic of lottery let-
ter scams. A Vernonia resident
recently received two lottery
scam letters. The letters were
from the “British” and “Swiss
Random Lotto’s” and included
a check written to the citizen.
The letter advised the check
was to help the citizen with
paying “clearance fees” in or-
der to later receive $75,000.
The winners need only to de-
posit the check into their bank
account then send the clear-
ance fees to the lottery office.
The office would then send the
$75,000. The checks looked
real enough but US Bank ad-
vised they were not real and
were not valid account num-
bers. In the end, the citizen
would be out the clearance fee,
out the deposited check, and
the scammers would have all of
the bank account information!
Remember there is rarely “easy
money” and never through mail
lotteries that require money to
be sent in by the winner. Be
smart and use common sense.