Policy & Advocacy

Turning science into lasting conservation outcomes.

PHOTO: Kurt Thomas Hunt

Protecting mountain lions requires more than understanding ecosystems. It requires laws, policies, and public decisions that reflect that understanding. Through advocacy, partnerships, and science-based engagement, we work to create durable protections for mountain lions and the landscapes they depend on.

Why Policy Matters

Conservation succeeds when science informs the decisions that shape our shared future.

Effective conservation depends on more than scientific understanding. It requires public policies, land-use decisions, and wildlife management practices that reflect what science tells us about healthy ecosystems.

From habitat connectivity and wildlife crossings to species protections and coexistence programs, policy shapes the conditions that allow mountain lions and the landscapes they inhabit to thrive. By bringing science, expertise, and public engagement into decision-making processes, we help create lasting conservation outcomes that benefit both wildlife and people.

How We Create Change

Advancing science-based conservation through advocacy, engagement, and action.

Wildlife Policy

Habitat Connectivity

Public Engagement

Conservation Partnerships

Helping shape the laws and regulations that affect mountain lions and their habitats.

Protecting the pathways wildlife needs to survive.

Building support for conservation through education and advocacy.

Working with agencies, scientists, organizations, and communities.

Work with agencies, commissions, and lawmakers.

Wildlife crossings, corridors, fragmentation.

Action alerts, campaigns, community engagement.

Collaborative conservation.

Turning Understanding Into Protection

Knowledge creates opportunity. Policy creates lasting change.

Science

Advocacy

Policy

Protection

Scientific research helps us understand what mountain lions need to survive and what ecosystems need to remain healthy. Advocacy helps translate that understanding into action.

By working with agencies, decision-makers, conservation partners, and the public, we help ensure that scientific knowledge becomes meaningful protection for wildlife, habitat, and future generations.

Policy in Action

Recent efforts helping shape the future of mountain lion conservation.

More policy stories...

California Advances Wildlife Coexistence Efforts 

SB 1135 now moves to the California Assembly As wildlife populations recover and communities continue to grow, encounters between people and wildlife are becoming more common. The question must be how we share space with wildlife, not is not whether we will. That’s why we were encouraged to see the California

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Why “Threatened” Status Matters for Southern and Central Coast Mountain Lions 

by Byron Weckworth, Chief Conservation and Advocacy Officer A long-building, science-driven decision  On February 12th, California’s Fish and Game Commission is considering whether mountain lions in the Southern California and Central Coast region should be listed as Threatened under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). This decision represents the culmination of a multi-year, science-driven process

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California Wildlife Officials Recommend Threatened Status for Central Coast and Southern California Mountain Lions

California Wildlife Officials Recommend Threatened Status for Central Coast and Southern California Mountain Lions Historic recommendation follows years of advocacy by Mountain Lion Foundation and Center for Biological Diversity In a major conservation victory, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) recommended that mountain lions across the Central Coast

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The Lion Effect

Protecting ecosystems begins with protecting the conditions that allow them to function.

Effective policy helps preserve habitat, maintain connectivity, and support coexistence. protecting the ecological relationships that make healthy landscapes possible. These connections are at the heart of The Lion Effect.

Conservation Needs More Than Good Ideas.

It Needs Voices.

Protecting mountain lions and the landscapes they shape depends on informed public engagement. Together, we can help advance policies that support coexistence, connectivity, and long-term conservation.

Explore Current Advocacy Efforts →

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