1972
- Governor Ronald Reagan signs legislation outlawing the sport hunting of mountain lions for five years

1986
- 15-year moratorium on sport hunting lions comes to an end. The Legislature extended the ban twice between 1972 and 1986
- Mountain Lion Coalition is formed to protect mountain lions in California
- Coalition defeats two bills in the State Legislature that would have allowed trophy hunting of mountain lions
- Coalition stops California Fish and Game Commission (FGC) plan to allow mountain lion hunting

1987
- Coalition files for non-profit status and Mountain Lion Preservation Foundation is born
- FGC approves trophy mountain lion hunting over the Foundation's opposition
- Foundation files successful lawsuit challenging the lion hunting decision for the 1987 season
- Foundation sponsors bill in the State Legislature to ban the use of dogs for mountain lion hunting (the bill was defeated after the National Rifleman's Association made the measure its highest priority)

1988
- Foundation-produced study documents the decline in mountain lion habitat in the Sierra Nevada
- Defying a court order, the FGC approves mountain lion trophy hunt for the 1988 season
- Foundation files a second lawsuit challenging the mountain lion hunting regulations for the 1988 season

1989
- 100% volunteer effort gathers 680,000 signatures to qualify an initiative (Proposition 117) to ban mountain lion trophy hunting for the 1990 ballot
- Foundation creates its Adopt-a-Lion program

1990
- Voters approve Proposition 117 that bans mountain lion hunting and creates a $30 million-per-year Habitat Conservation Fund
- Foundation-sponsored legal decision that invalidated the California Department of Fish and Game's 1988 mountain lion hunt is upheld by the California Appellate Court
- Foundation produces two traveling mountain lion exhibits. A permanent mountain lions exhibit is created at the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in Southern California

1991
- Foundation publishes "Preserving Cougar Country"
- Foundation creates anti-poaching campaign
- Three Foundation-supported bills are approved in the State Legislature to provide millions of "bucks for bucks"
- Mountain Lion Preservation Foundation is officially re-named the Mountain Lion Foundation (MLF)

1992
- MLF publishes Cougar: The American Lion
- MLF files a "friends of the court" brief in a lawsuit that said the FGC erred in protecting the California gnatcatcher as a candidate species under the state Endangered Species Act
- MLF files another "friends" brief in a lawsuit that protects endangered salmon from pumping in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

1993
- MLF and other groups file a lawsuit to protect an important wildlife corridor in Coal Canyon, between the Santa Ana Mountains and Chino Hills State Park on the border of Orange County
- MLF helps build the evidence for the prosecution of a ranch in Monterey County that hosted illegal mountain lion hunting
- MLF loses a bid in the State Legislature to ban the use of dogs to hunt black bears in California

1994
- MLF publishes the anti-poaching book Crimes Against the Wild
- MLF defeats legislation to eliminate the Habitat Conservation Fund, which was created in Proposition 117
- Three bills to repeal Proposition 117 are killed
- Bill to eliminate the Endangered Species Ballot Check-off Program is killed
- Successful lawsuit by MLF and others keep the Mojave ground squirrel on the state Endangered Species List, which preserves an important precedent for the California Endangered Species Act (CESA)

1995
- The California Legislature places Proposition 197, to rescind the ban on mountain lion hunting, on the November 1996 ballot

1996
- MLF launches "No on Prop 197", an extensive public education campaign
- State voters defeat Proposition 197 by more than 16 percent

1997
- MLF presents first annual anti-poaching award presented to a deserving public official
- Bill to ban the use of hounds for hunting bears and bobcats sponsored in the State Legislature (failed after opposition from houndsmen)
- MLF produces award-winning anti-poaching public service announcements in five languages for distribution to the media
- MLF wins a legal decision overturning Gov. Pete Wilson's emergency order for a sweeping five-year waiver of the California Endangered Species Act
- MLF sponsors a successful measure in the State Legislature requiring the California Fish and Game Commission to post decision-making documents on the Internet
- MLF creates California Legal Advocates for Wildlife (CLAW), a new legal defense program

1998
- MLF files its first lawsuit challenging the inadequacy of the Habitat Conservation Plan for the North Natomas development in Sacramento

1999
- MLF successfully amends a bill that would have eliminated the mountain lion hunting ban that was established in Proposition 117
- MLF successfully petitions the FGC to list the Sierra Nevada Bighorn sheep as "endangered" under the California Endangered Species Act
- MLF helps California Department of Fish and Game win a $3 million appropriation to write a recovery plan for Bighorn sheep
- MLF joins with the National Audubon Society to develop and implement the Adopt-A-Species program to teach California's middle school students about endangered species

2000
- Coal Canyon is acquired by State Parks and protected for all time, providing a key link for the safe passage of mountain lions and other wildlife between Chino Hills State Park and the Santa Ana Mountains
- MLF launches Lions in the Park program to educate state park rangers and docents
- MLF and California State Parks work together to create a three-panel, color interpretive display
- Judge rules in favor of MLF's case which invalidated the City of Sacramento's authority to allow developers to kill endangered species and requiring the USFWS to complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that would analyze the effects of habitat destruction on giant garter snakes and Swainson hawks in the Natomas Basin
- MLF supports the USFWS proposal to designate over 5.4 million acres of public and private land in California as critical habitat for the red-legged frog

2001
- MLF launches Living with Lions program to educate Californians on how to coexist with mountain lions and to introduce ideas and practical assistance that will protect lions that come into contact with people, rather than punishing them for behaving naturally

2002
- MLF organizes, chairs and presents at the first-ever sessions on the conservation of mountain lions at a major scientific conference, Carnivores 2002
- As part of the Living with Lions program, Wolf Creek and Indian Valley 4-H club members and MLF celebrate 4-H's 100th birthday by completing the construction of the first cougar-proof pen designed specifically to protect goats and domestic animals from mountain lion depredation
- Living with Lions program working with local 4-H and FFA groups build first cougar-proof pen in Calaveras County, California
- Working with the California Oak Foundation, MLF sues the Department of Forestry demanding they protect oak woodlands, which provide excellent mountain lion habitat
- MLF, with other conservation groups, files suit in federal court and successfully stops the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) from proceeding with an elk population study that involves killing at least half the mountain lions in two regions of Oregon

2003
- MLF launches On-the-Edge program in Southern California Santa Monica Mountains to teach communities responsible ways to coexist with wildlife on the urban fringe
- MLF organizes, chairs and presents at the first-ever conservation session at a Mountain Lion Workshop, a scientific conference on mountain lions held by state wildlife agencies held approximately every four years

2004
- MLF presents information on lion biology and behavior to residents in Palo Alto after a lion is killed by DFG and receives national media coverage
- MLF educates over 200 Municipal Water District field employees in the Santa Monica Mountains on staying safe while working in lion country
- MLFs conservation biologist Chris Papouchis testifies against the Arizona Game & Fish Departments plan to eradicate all mountain lions from the Sabino Canyon
- The last male mountain lion (P1) in the Santa Monica Mountains has a depredation permit issued on him after preying on domestic goats, but MLF fights to have P1 spared. Later that year, P2, his mate, gives birth to four cubs
- MLF works with the Felton 4-H to build a lion-proof small livestock enclosure, preventing any depredation of their livestock before an incident ever occurs
- MLF opens its first field office in southern California and offers presentations on wildlife corridors and living with mountain lions
- A large cougar display created by MLF in 1996 for the Effie Yeaw Nature Center begins a tour through Iowa to educate communities after a few lion sightings raise concern and curiosity among residents

2005
- MLF begins Living with Lions program in San Luis Obispo County, California, to create ordinances for land use and wildlife friendly neighborhoods while providing educational presentations in the community and training local law enforcement agencies
- MLF starts Project Newsworthy to provide journalists with accurate information about cougars and creates multiple public service announcements in both English and Spanish to be aired when a sighting has occurred

2006
- MLF works with the Black Hills Mountain Lion Foundation to build a lion-proof small livestock enclosure in South Dakota to expand non-lethal husbandry techniques and help residents coexist with the recovering cougar population in the Black Hills
- MLF Conservation Biologist Chris Papouchis publishes Human Exploitation of Mountain Lions in the American West analyzing the exceedingly high rate at which mountain lions are killed and suggestions for ecosystem recovery
- Effects of Sport Hunting Mountain Lions on Safety and Livestock is published by MLF Conservation Biologist Chris Papouchis, putting to rest once and for all the myth that sport hunting lions will somehow increase the safety of people and domestic animals

2007
- MLF expands upon its successful Living with Lions program with the launch of Rural Partners to help pet and livestock owners in the Central Sierra better protect their animals
- MLF takes part in Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership Program and hosts an AmeriCorps member full time to work on the Rural Partners program
- MLF partners with the US Fish & Wildlife Service and Defenders to build lion-proof small livestock enclosures in Naples, Florida to protect livestock and ultimately keep endangered Florida panthers out of trouble in their shrinking habitat
- MLF begins its two year Safe Passages program, partnering with various agencies and the public, to institutionalize protection for wildlife corridors by beginning outreach in neighborhoods around the Santa Monica, Santa Susana, San Gabriel and Santa Ana mountain ranges

2008
- MLFs Rural Partners program provides a grant to the Placer Nature Center to create a permanent display and provide education at the Auburn County Fair
- Southern California field volunteer Robin Parks gives briefings on mountain lions to over one-hundred San Diego Sheriff Search and Rescue team members to increase the safety of officers, the public, and mountain lions
- MLF continues with the second year of the Safe Passages program, recruiting numerous partners and spreading education through presentations and a massive community-wide door-to-door distribution of informative fliers about local corridors

2009
- An expansion of MLFs website is started to take advantage of more than 30 years of information through up to date technology, and makes education easily accessible to the public with daily news article updates and a forum to improve world wide communication
- MLFs Cougar Clippings service expands to provide weekly electronic news and keeps thousands of people informed on the media coverage of mountain lions
- MLF joins the popular networking site Facebook and gains over 300 fans in the first month