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.
For mountain lions, policy is not abstract. A single legislative change can remove hunting limits, authorize trapping, weaken habitat protections, or allow an already-declining population to be reduced further. Decisions made in statehouses, wildlife commissions, and public agencies can determine whether lions remain part of a landscape—or disappear from it.
Wildlife policy can take decades to build – and a single legislative session to dismantle.
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.
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.
Science
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Advocacy
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Policy
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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.
PHOTO: Anthony Trumbo In Boulder, Utah, wildness is never far away. The small community sits between the Aquarius Plateau and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, surrounded by lands that mountain lions and other wildlife have inhabited for generations. For Boulder resident Constance Lynn, that proximity has shaped a deeply personal understanding
PHOTO: Frank Weigel Some management decisions are more difficult to reverse than others. Building a road into an intact landscape is one of them. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has formally proposed rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which limits most new road construction, road reconstruction, and timber removal
A new K–12 education initiative will bring mountain lion science, coexistence, and the connections that shape healthy ecosystems directly to students and teachers. This September, the Mountain Lion Foundation is taking an important new step in our education work with the launch of a Montana-based K–12 Mountain Lion Education Initiative—the
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.
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.
