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48 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, April 22, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 21, 2005 Cougar-hunting bill ‘isn’t feasible’ in budget climate By DON JEPSEN for the Mail Tribune SALEM — A $5.58 million pilot program to allow hound hunting for cougars in 10 Oregon counties, including Jackson County, appears to have fallen victim to the Legislature's budget ax. "It just isn't feasible to spend that kind of money," said Rep. Susan Morgan, R-Myrtle Creek, chairwoman of the Natural Resources Subcommittee of the budget-writing Ways and Means Committee. Introduced early in the session, the bill would allow dogs to be used to track and kill the big cats as part of a study on the impact of rising cougar populations on big-game animals and human safety. It attracted 50 sponsors, mostly rural legislators. Conservationists charge House Bill 2759 is merely a thinly disguised effort to overturn a 1994 initiative approved by voters to outlaw the use of dogs in hunting cougar and bear. "It's just a ploy to reinstate hounding," said Sally Mackler of Jacksonville, wildlife chairwoman of the Sierra Club's Oregon chapter. Advertisement Morgan said the $5.58 million estimated price tag to establish a four-year study simply could not be justified, "given the problems we have in funding education and human services." A proponent, Morgan said talks are currently under way to develop a program that is more limited in scope. "I hope there are things we can do to get a bill that will fit our budget," she said, though she had not yet determined an acceptable figure. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife estimated it would cost $2.24 million to implement the study in 2005-07, and another $3.34 million in the 2007-09 biennium. The pilot project would direct ODFW to study cougar behavior and human interaction and the impact of cougar density on big-game populations. In addition to Jackson, the counties included in the study are Josephine, Curry, Coos and Douglas counties in Western Oregon and Baker, Grant, Umatilla, Wallowa and Union counties east of the Cascades. The legislation was originally assigned to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, which held one hearing in Baker County in March before referring HB 2759 to Ways and Means because of the fiscal impact. Rep. Patti Smith, R-Corbett, chairwoman of the agriculture panel, is a strong supporter of the measure. She still holds another bill, sponsored by Rep. Tom Butler, R-Ontario, that would limit the program to six northeastern Oregon counties. Smith, who along with her husband raises cattle on land leased in the Columbia Gorge, said she has seen several cougars near her home. "I really believe this is a safety issue," she said. "We have to do something about the growing numbers of cougars. "My goal is to address the policy issue. I hope Ways and Means will address the fiscal," she said, adding that the bill limiting the study to northeastern Oregon was "a good alternative." She said there are strong views on the issue, particularly from conservationists. "But they're not out there with a flashlight and a gun checking their cattle during calving season," she said. Smith is part of discussions on the House side to come up with an acceptable alternative to HB 2759. But she and Morgan said those discussions have yet to involve the Senate and the governor's office. One suggestion by ODFW would be to extrapolate two studies that were completed on cougar populations in Douglas and Union counties where dogs were used to tree cougars, which were then tranquilized and fitted with radio collars. Those studies were primarily limited to density counts, according to Ron Anglin, administrator of the wildlife division of ODFW. Two other surveys, in the North Umpqua unit of Douglas County and Wenaha Sled Springs area in northeastern Oregon, are currently under way and include analyses of elk calf and deer predation by cougars. Dogs can be used to tree cougars that prey on domestic livestock or pose a potential threat to humans by showing up in residential areas. There has never been a recorded human death in Oregon attributed to a cougar. Don Jepsen is a freelance writer living in Salem. 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