Conservation Groups Sue to Stop $5.2 Million Proposal to Slaughter Cougars

The Humane Society of the United States
Tuesday, 12 February 2002

Nine state and national citizens' organizations, representing over 100,000 Oregonians, are suing the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), requesting an injunction to stop the killing of 50% of the cougars in two regions of Oregon. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) project will cost 5.2 million dollars of public monies -75% from the USFWS, 25% from ODFW.

"We can imagine no universe in which the government's cougar killing proposal could withstand the test of law or science," said Lynn Sadler Executive Director of the Mountain Lion Foundation. "It is in itself an illogical premise."

Although the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has cloaked the project as a scientific experiment, Chris Papouchis, wildlife biologist, Mountain Lion Foundation, was quick to point out that the project is not scientifically defensible but is predator control in disguise.

"Performing lethal control to answer the question if lethal control should be used as a management alternative is not good methodology or science. Many factors influence elk populations and predation is least likely to be the root cause of decline," Papouchis pointed out.

Activists claim the action was just one more effort to thwart the will of Oregonians. In 1994 and again in 1996 voters affirmed they want greater protections for cougars. This killing plan is not only wrong-headed, but reckless," said Wayne Pacelle, Senior Vice President, The Humane Society of the United States.

"This action is a thinly disguised excuse for killing even more cougars in an area that is already at the maximum sport kill limit established by ODFW managers," said Sally Mackler, Wildlife Coordinator for the Oregon Sierra Club.

The lawsuit claims that, in addition to being bad science, the action violates the National Environmental Policy Act and misuses $5.2 million in funds that are designated for wildlife protection.

"This plan is an assault on cougars and a fleecing of public dollars," said Michael Markarian, Executive Vice President of The Fund for Animals.

"As a conservationist and hunter, I do not want my tax dollars used to kill predators", said Al Thieme. "The factors that lead to lowered numbers of elk are not being addressed, this action is just an excuse to kill more cougars."

The name of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife proposal is "Evaluating the effects of predation and nutrition on recruitment of elk in Oregon." The proposal plans to systematically kill half the cougars in each project area and then to continue the killing to hold the population to consistent numbers.

The plaintiffs are: The Animal Protection Institute, Cascadia Wildlands Project, The Fund for Animals, The Humane Society of the U.S., Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Sierra Club Oregon Chapter, Siskiyou Regional Education Project, Umpqua Watersheds, Inc., The Mountain Lion Foundation, Al Thieme.

For more information, or to contact The Humane Society of the United States, see their website at: www.hsus.org