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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Featured Galleries: June 29, 2007 Group blasts governor for signing cougar bill The Associated Press SALEM — Wildlife advocates criticized Gov. Ted Kulongoski on Friday for signing legislation that allows the state to enlist private hunters with dog packs to thin cougar populations while doing nothing to stop bears from being killed when they damage young trees on commercial timberlands. The governor signed a bill Wednesday that allows the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to appoint volunteer hunters with dog packs to kill cougars as part of a program to see if thinning cougar populations will reduce conflicts with people and livestock. “Gov. Kulongoski has billed himself as a friend to the environment and to Oregon’s wildlife,” Spencer Lennard, director of Big Wildlife, said in a statement. “Yet he has employed some of the most cruel wildlife ’management’ practices of any governor in the U.S. With friends like that, who needs enemies?” Wildlife advocates were unable to derail the cougar management plan or the cougar hunting bill, which they said subverted a 1994 ballot measure that outlawed hound hunting for bears and cougars. The bill was backed by the Oregon Hunters Association. Last year the state spent $110,000 on professional hunters to kill cougars. Last March an agent mistakenly killed three cougars outside the study area. Lennard had earlier criticized the state for not stepping in to stop federal government hunters who use leg snares to catch and kill bears in northwestern Oregon that damage young tree plantations. Governor’s spokesman Jake Weigler said sport hunters kill six times the cougars slated for death by the cougar management plan, which seeks to balance a sustainable population of cougars against problems with livestock and people. He added that the governor’s staff was able to amend the bill to increase training for and control of the volunteer hunters. Weigler added that bears are plentiful in the state, and one bear can kill up to 60 young trees in a day, causing hardships for timber growers. Current Comments: Seems like the young trees did just fine before the chainsaws got here. What are the good ol boys gonna do if they can't shoot anything? All the big bad wolves are gone. paulg - Ashland OR - June 29th, 9:58 PM Even more disappointing than Gov. K's signing the bill, our own Sen. Alan Bates championed the bill. in doing so, Bates sacrificed a lot of support he'll need in a Democratic primary if he wants to challenge Gordon Smith for the U.S. Senate. democrat likes environment - jefferson - June 30th, 3:34 PM Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising: Debt Help Inkjet Printers Payday Loans Free Ringtones Debt Consolidation Security Systems Debt Relief New Hampshire Primary Advertisement: Copyright © 2007 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved. Del.icio.us