The Oregon Board of Agriculture on December 2 will consider a resolution supporting the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's Cougar Management Plan. We think the Plan has several flaws, including too much emphasis on killing cougars to resolve conflicts with people, pets and farm animals. We oppose the Board's resolution and hope you will, too, with comments to the Board - by 5 p.m. Friday, November 20 - in care of Karla Valness, kvalness@oda.state.or.us.
It's always best to use your own words, but you can say something as simple as:
I urge the Board of Agriculture to reject the resolution supporting the Oregon Cougar Management Plan. The Plan puts too much emphasis on killing cougars, often with inhumane techniques such as hunting cougars with packs of dogs, to avoid very limited threats to farm animals.
To see the Board's agenda and specific resolution, go here. To see the full Cougar Management Plan (last updated in 2017), and other information on cougars in Oregon, go here.
Flaws with the Cougar Management Plan (last updated in 2017) include:
Failure to require specific non-lethal approaches to cougar conflicts with people, pets and farm animals before resorting to killing cougars.
Allowing intensive, indiscriminate killing of cougars (i.e., not specific cougars known to be causing problems) when reported conflicts with cougars over three years rise above a 10-year average - an arbitrary measure, in our opinion - even though studies show this may actually increase conflict by destabilizing cougar populations.
Allowing cougars to be hunted with packs of dogs for these so-called "management" activities, even though voters outlawed that method of hunting cougars for sport in 1994.
To see our full 2017 comments on the Plan, click on the link at the bottom of this post.
Thank you for helping us defend cougars in Oregon!