I was very pleased to represent the Mountain Lion Foundation at our booth during the big “P-22 Day” event Sunday, Oct 22 at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. This was at least the 3rd time I’ve manned an information booth or assisted other MLF staffers and volunteers with booths and displays there. I was joined by two recently trained Coexistence Ambassadors, who got a chance to put their skills to use with the crowds.
This is a very important annual event, not just to honor and remember the legendary P-22 (this was the first such event since his passing), but to rally support for the cats in California and everywhere, to establish and refresh contacts with other organizations working for this cause, to recruit new Mountain Lion Foundation volunteers, and to generate interest and support from kids. The event organizers did that last part very well.
It was great to see friends and colleagues from the National Park Service, the Cougar Conservancy, LA County Nature Center folks, the National Wildlife Federation, and others.
At one point, the announcers at the event put out loud and clear that the terrible rodenticide “diphacinone” had just been banned in California. You should have heard the cheers!
Housing density policies in California, Oregon and Washington are a step forward for mountain lions
By Josh Rosenau, Conservation Advocate
In 2021, California’s legislature passed a law allowing the construction of two, four, or even more housing units on most lots that previously only allowed a single home. The policy aims to increase affordable housing, address car-dependent sprawl, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The law carved out exceptions to upzoning in environmentally sensitive areas, including habitat for species listed (or under consideration for listing) under state endangered species law.
When reporters asked for the Mountain Lion Foundation’s view of that argument, we responded: “While Woodside abuts and contains mountain lion habitat, a blanket prohibition against adding an additional unit on an already developed parcel anywhere in the town is neither required by the California Endangered Species Act, nor contributing to the protection of mountain lions.”
What felt like an anodyne response generated enormous buzz.
The idea that environmental advocates might favor increased housing density was at odds with many people’s expectations. But at the Mountain Lion Foundation, we’re pleased to see such policies adopted in California and throughout mountain lion country. Oregon adopted a similar policy in 2019, and this year Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a series of laws which legalize duplexes everywhere, and especially near mass transit stops.
As urban ecologist Max Lambert recently wrote recently, reviewing Washington’s new laws, “Harm to habitats and species from denser development are not inevitable. In fact, denser housing offers a win-win for Washingtonians and biodiversity, if implemented thoughtfully.”
As we consider population growth and plan our communities, the necessities of the climate crisis demand that the housing we create for people must be as dense as possible, while keeping in mind equity, access to natural spaces nearby and quality of life.
For cougars, the main advantage of greater housing density is about space. Every additional house built on an already-developed lot means that a quarter acre or more of forest stays wild. It also means fewer roads built to serve new housing developments and fewer lots cleared for stores and offices serving new communities. Building up, and filling in areas that are already cleared, is better than clearing more forests.
Housing the same number of people in a smaller piece of land also means each one emits fewer greenhouse gases. As cougars and their prey are threatened by droughts, wildfires, and other climate changes driven by human activity, every step we take to reduce carbon emissions also protects the lives and well-being of cougars.
Keeping large, connected patches of undeveloped native vegetation intact.
Encouraging and maintaining low zoning densities within and immediately surrounding high-value habitat areas and encouraging maintenance of native vegetation.
Managing road systems to minimize the number of new roads and new barriers to important animal movement corridors.
Planning open space to incorporate high-value habitat and corridors for animal movement.
Zoning for higher densities within urban and developed landscapes to avoid sprawl.”
It’s unfortunate that it took over a decade for policy in the Evergreen State to catch up with these recommendations, but the results will be as good for wildlife as they are for people. And the effects on people will be immense. Increased housing density is a key step for housing people who are experiencing homelessness while also protecting a home for wildlife. It reverses centuries of racial bias in zoning and housing policy, making our communities fairer and more equitable for people.
Washington, Oregon, and California have all enacted strong policies to increase density where people already live, protecting habitat for wildlife. A similar law being debated in the Colorado legislature faces strong opposition, and may not extend those protections to mountain lions in the Rocky Mountains this year. Moving forward, the Mountain Lion Foundation will continue to support density-focused measures that reduce sprawl and protect our country’s remaining wildlife habitat. It’s good policy for people and good policy for lions.
Conservationists and hunters are calling for a veto from Utah Governor Spencer Cox
“We have not had a change this radical in the wildlife management of any species in Utah in 56 years.”
That was the dismayed reaction of Corey Huntsman, the President of the Utah Houndsmen Association, after the Utah Legislature moved to toss out decades of wildlife management practice with a last-minute amendment that would end regulation on mountain lion hunting in the Beehive State.
The amendment, introduced on March 1, 2023, by Sen. Scott Sandall (R-Tremo
Cosmo the Cougar is the mascot of Brigham Young University. Image public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
nton), never had any public hearings. It instantly drew sharp criticism not just from the Mountain Lion Foundation and other conservation and wildlife advocates, but also from the state’s hunting community.
AsCorey Huntsman, President of the Utah Houndsmen Association, told Field and Stream, “this was done with zero public input. The legislators did not seek out Utah Division of Wildlife biologist experts for opinion or cause and effects. They didn’t reach out to our universities that are doing studies on deer and lions. This was all legislators managing wildlife by slipping an amendment into an unrelated bill at the last hour.”
A Step Backward
Current Utah law permits hunters with valid licenses and permits to hunt with hounds from Nov. 1 through May 31, and year-round hunting without hounds. Hunting can be stopped in a region when wildlife officials determine that more killing would do ecological harm. (Mountain Lion Foundation has criticized those limits as far too permissive.). Trappers are not allowed to target mountain lions, and rules require any trapped cougar to be “released unharmed.”
The amendment to House Bill 469 removes all of those restrictions, allowing mountain lions to be killed year-round by virtually any means, including cruel and unethical trapping, and it removes the ability of the state’s Division of Wildlife Resources to set limits on hunting.
The amendment was adopted without a hearing or any debate — except for a quip wondering how the Brigham Young mascot, Cosmo the Cougar, would feel about the change.
Of all states with breeding populations of mountain lions, only Texas currently sets no hunting limits and permits unrestricted killing. This move by Utah would send the state back decades, to an era when mountain lions were eradicated in much of the United States. It’s further concerning that state wildlife biologists will not be able to understand and manage beloved species including mountain lions, deer, elk and bighorn sheep.
Effective management by wildlife agencies protects wild landscapes, livestock, and humans in cougar country. Excessive killing of carnivores can increase the chance of conflict with livestock and people — a finding replicated by numerousindependentresearch groupsthroughoutthe West.
As a letter the Mountain Lion Foundation sent to Governor Cox explains: “Increased hunting leaves many cougar kittens orphaned, …The orphaning of these cougar kittens poses a considerable risk to the cougars themselves as well as public safety.” The letter also cites the ecological harm overhunting would cause to Utah’s wild lands, a central draw for Utah’s $6.1 billion outdoor industry.
Our Response and Next Steps
Working with advocates in Utah and across the country, the Mountain Lion Foundation leapt into action to prevent Governor Spencer Cox from allowing this dangerous change to become law.
We alerted Utah residents and worked with experts nationwide to ensure that the Governor understood not only the dangers of this law, but also the benefits of protecting mountain lions from unnecessary hunting. Utahns told the Governor that unregulated trapping is not just cruel to mountain lions, but dangerous to people and domestic dogs (who can be crippled or killed by the traps) and observed that Utah has a well-tested system for setting hunting seasons and managing cougar populations. While we have been critical of the outcomes, we and the hunting community agree that an open and public process is a fairer way to manage hunting than the free-for-all that would ensue should this become law.
What You Can Do
Governor Cox has until Thursday, March 23, 2023, to veto the bill. If he signs it or takes no action before that day, the bill becomes law, and hunting season will not end in June as currently scheduled.
The Mountain Lion Foundation is monitoring the decision by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the National Park Service (NPS) to capture the mountain lion known as P-22 for a medical evaluation.
P-22’s story is an inspiration to Los Angelenos and the mountain lion conservation community. His ability to cross highways, make a home in Griffith Park, and be a safe neighbor to the humans living nearby has shown the remarkable capacity of America’s lion to thrive even in the midst of Los Angeles. His journey inspired funding for a critical new wildlife crossing in Los Angeles, and brought attention to the critical importance of road crossings elsewhere in the state. P-22 has lived far longer than most wild mountain lions do, which is a further testament to his resilience, and the good relations he has with neighboring human communities.
Recently, P-22’s behavior has changed, bringing him into unusually-close contact with people, and the decision to conduct a medical assessment is prudent and warranted. NPS and CDFW have some of the best mountain lion biologists in the world, and we are confident their evaluation will be thorough and they will make every effort to return P-22 to the wild if possible. After the long and storied life P-22 has lived, and given his central place in the hearts of the Griffith Park neighborhood and broader Los Angeles, we believe P-22 deserves to live out his natural life in the wild.
We understand that biologists may determine that P-22 cannot be safely returned to the wild. We are optimistic that that decision will only be driven by medical necessity, and not serve as a form of conflict resolution. P-22 is a member of a population of mountain lions under consideration for listing as endangered or threatened under state law, and has not met the state’s criteria for lethal removal or relocation under current management rules. If medical necessity makes return to the wild impossible, there are a number of wildlife sanctuaries in California which have the capability to care for P-22, and where the public can be assured of the beloved puma’s wellbeing and chances to continue observing him living the life all mountain lions deserve.
We will continue working with our partner agencies and other conservation nonprofits to ensure the wellbeing of P-22, and that all mountain lions can thrive and coexist with humans in California and throughout their range.
Erin responded exactly as one should in such a moment. Her quick thinking and the assistance of a passer-by prevented a bad situation from getting worse. By first attempting to scare off the mountain lion, then fighting back with pepper spray and ultimately a PVC pipe, they drove away the lion. Their description of the lion indicates that it is probably unwell, underfed, and possibly suffering from eye problems, all of which likely contributed to the cat’s unusual behavior.
Incidents like this are incredibly rare, but shocking whenever they occur. Even with thousands of mountain lions throughout the West, and our constantly increasing recreation and number of residences in mountain lion territory, one is still more likely to be struck by lightning than to experience such an attack.
In the West, we live alongside wildlife like mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, bears and other animals. MLF believes that people and wildlife alike can thrive and share the landscape. It is our hope and mission to ensure that these types of traumatic encounters will be as rare as possible.
In response to the resignation of Dr. Fred Koontz from the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, the Mountain Lion Foundation offers the following statement:
The bullying and attacks that led Dr. Koontz to resign are the latest and most visible sign of a crisis within Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife. A recent report by the State Auditor found that agency staff often feel bullied, and report a pervasive sense that science is not driving decisions. Little wonder that so many staff “described a workplace in which management did not address patterns of unprofessional behavior consistently or effectively,” when this behavior is seen even at the highest level, in the Commission’s public meetings!
The broken culture within WDFW has consequences for wildlife. Agency scientists are bullied into fitting data to pre-existing conclusions, or their findings are simply ignored. One staffer told the Auditor: “It feels like there is a lot of political decisions that happen that are made without a whole lot of attention paid to the data that should be going into those decisions.” Among those decisions: cougar hunt quotas set to unrealistic levels based on “perceived density” despite years of careful statewide research to track actual populations and densities, and a preference for killing carnivores to manage conflict with livestock or game species when other responses are more effective and better for all species.
In the wake of Dr. Koontz’s resignation, Governor Jay Inslee must do more than name a new commissioner. The nine-member body was already operating with one seat left empty for over a year, and another commissioner serving well past the end of his six-year term. Those seats must be filled immediately with commissions who can withstand and repair what Koontz describes as “a politicized quagmire,” and who share Dr. Koontz’s scientific credentials, commitment to science-based decisions, and his passion for the agency’s mission to conserve the wildlife of the Evergreen State.
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Contact:
Josh Rosenau, Conservation Advocate, Region 1
jrosenau@mountainlion.org
916-442-2666
In the wake of recent depredations of the Anderson Valley High School FFA goat herd, the Mountain Lion Foundation has partnered with the Anderson Valley School District to install two 10×20 foot pens.
Boonville school to receive free pens to help protect goats from predators
Mountain Lion Foundation plans to install the pens Friday
In an effort to prevent more goats being killed at the Anderson Valley High School farm, the Mountain Lion Foundation reported that it will be donating and installing two livestock pens at the school in Boonville this Friday.
“We are pleased to offer AVHS a gift of two, 10-feet by 20-feet, predator-proof livestock pens,” wrote Dylan Henriksen of the Mountain Lion Foundation, a group which offered the pens last week in response to Anderson Valley School District Superintendent Louise Simson’s request for help after three goats were reportedly attacked by a mountain lion at her school. One goat was injured and two were killed.
Henriksen explained that the offer had been accepted by Simson and teacher Beth Swehla on Dec. 10, and that the group planned to install the pens on Dec. 17. She added that “California Department of Fish and Wildlife Regional Biologist Dr. Thomas Batter, who has been in collaboration with the Mountain Lion Foundation on this case, has volunteered his time to assist in building the structure.”
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission’s recent vote to end springtime black bear hunting is a reprieve, a step forward for Washington’s wildlife and all Washingtonians who love our natural abundance.
Spring hunting poses a particular risk to cubs, born in winter dens. The hunt may orphan them, or starve them as mothers waste energy needed for nursing. Only seven other states allow such hunts.
Beyond the vote’s immediate effect, it signals a new direction. Commissioners gave new weight to science, hunting ethics, wildlife well-being and Washingtonians’ desire to enjoy our wild neighbors in peace. Unfortunately, this change may be fleeting.
One commission seat is vacant, having waited a year for the governor’s appointment. That absence left this crucial vote tied, with the swing vote serving past his term, until a successor is named.
Those new commissioners will face challenges like local sheriffs’ war on cougars, and the state auditor’s assessment that the agency is riven with bullying, abuse and a pervasive sense that science does not drive policy. It’s urgent that Gov. Jay Inslee fills those seats with commissioners who will guarantee a bright future for our wild places and those who love them.
The killing of what may be a record-breaking cougar (“Massive cougar killed by hunter,” Oct 17), and debate over extending Washington’s spring bear hunt both show how outdated the state’s approach to wildlife is. Washingtonians love the outdoors and our wildlife. At times, we are torn between that love and outdated beliefs about agriculture and wildlife, a false belief in blood-for-blood retribution against any animal that even creates a fear of harm.
Consider the 197-pound male cougar killed as it napped on Sept. 9 by a hunter in Eastern Washington. The hunter celebrated the kill, hoping it will prove to be a record, beating the Boone and Crockett Club’s last record cougar, killed in 1979. The big tom only lived about nine years, and had it survived, could have passed on its remarkable genes to more generations of record-setting cougars.
Sixty years ago, Washington stopped paying bounties for the killing of carnivores. Those bounty programs had little effect on their stated goal of protecting livestock, but the devastation they caused our wilderness is still healing. Twenty-five years ago, voters ended hound hunts and bear baiting, deeming those ineffective and cruel ways to handle our wild carnivores. The state is slowly but surely shifting toward coexistence rather than conflict with wildlife.
Last month, this tension came up again, as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife debated allowing a spring bear hunt. Only eight states allow black bears to be hunted as they emerge from their long winter rest, and as bears that gave birth in the winter emerge to feed their cubs. Surveys of Washingtonians find that we overwhelmingly oppose such hunts as cruel and unnecessary, leaving orphaned cubs and damaging our wilderness for no benefit. Research shows that hunters are unable to reliably distinguish male and female bears, let alone tell nursing females from those that are not caring for cubs. Nonetheless, advocates and the department insist that orphaned cubs are uncommon and justify the hunt as an aid to tree farms, whose stock can be damaged by hungry bears.
Few of us will ever see a 200-pound cougar resting under a tree. The elusive cats avoid humans and can hide from all but the most dedicated pursuit. Had the hunter pulled out a camera instead of a gun, or been part of the growing contingent placing motion-activated cameras in our backwoods, others might have shared the experience, and benefited from his skill as a tracker and woodsman. A large male cougar roaming the forest, relaxing under a tree, living its short life and contributing to the biodiversity of that forest is a rare and beautiful thing. A picture for all to enjoy. Alive, it would continue culling the least-fit deer from wild herds, recycling nutrients from its prey back into forests, and making our forests and wildlife healthier. Dead, it contributes neither to nature nor society.
Approaching nature as an enemy to be conquered is outdated. Cougars have existed alongside bears and salmon in Pacific Northwest forests for as long as humans have been here, and humans and wildlife can coexist peacefully today, too. We can keep wildlife away from our livestock and tree plantations without a return to the slaughter that robbed eastern states of their native carnivores, and that has devastated our wild salmon and the orcas that rely on them. Washingtonians who love the outdoors, and who want to share our wild lands and wildlife with our children and future generations all want clean, fresh rivers teeming with fish, blue skies with colorful birds singing song, and majestic carnivores like the mountain lion, bear and wolf freely roaming our forests and mountains.
For 50 years, Washington has moved toward this new approach, but as the ongoing debate in the Fish and Wildlife Commission shows, that work is incomplete. The commission must decide whether a spring bear hunt still reflects how Washingtonians relate to nature. We must keep asking whether killing our largest carnivores for trophies fits today’s Washington, and whether a local sheriff should be able to declare war on cougars, as is happening now in Klickitat County. Or will Washington pioneer a new approach, one in which our urban and rural developments thrive alongside and coexist with the majesty of orcas, bears, wolves and America’s lion.
Josh Rosenau is a biologist and Conservation Advocate with the Mountain Lion Foundation. He lives with his wife and two children in Lake Forest Park, Washington. Debra Chase is the CEO of the Mountain Lion Foundation.
This is a very important annual event, not just to honor and remember the legendary P-22 (this was the first such event since his passing), but to rally support for the cats in California and everywhere, to establish and refresh contacts with other organizations working for this cause, to recruit new Mountain Lion Foundation volunteers, and to generate interest and support from kids. The event organizers did that last part very well.
We are thankful that Erin Wilson and her dog Eva are recovering well after fending off an attack by a mountain lion near Big Bar, CA. Recent updates indicate that Eva is likely to come home from the vet soon, and the 
