IN THE NEWS
UTAH BILL REMOVES COUGAR PROTECTIONS Utah’s cougar plan specifies detailed management objectives, benchmarks, and strategies to achieve them. So why did the legislature essentially pull management out of biologists hands? This winter the Utah legislature passed, and the governor signed into law, HB0469, which eliminates regulatory protection for cougars throughout the state. This means no closed season, no harvest limits and no license required to hunt or trap for mountain lions in Utah. The move comes as a result of concerns that cougars are impacting deer populations via predation, as well as having negative impacts on livestock. The bill, which also addresses regulations on game cameras and air rifles, passed with virtually no debate. Conservationists as well as some hunters spoke out against the bill, as they believe it undermines the current approach of wildlife management in the state. So what do the wildlife managers say? Initially, the spokesperson for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources stated that they were “a little surprised” by the cougar hunting amendment in the bill. I read that to say “We were completely blindsided by this unbelievable move, but it would be politically dangerous for me not to pretend otherwise”. She later stated that the department would “work to make sure cougar populations aren’t impacted”.
36
