OREGON COUGAR ALERT!

Photo of mother cougar with kitten by Bill Dow

Mother cougar & kitten. Photo by Bill Dow.


Thanks for speaking out against hounding cougars! The Oregon Senate finally killed the anti-cougar bill that wouldn't die.


Legislative Session Over; Anti-Cougar Bill Defeated


July 19, 2011 Update - The Oregon legislative session began with a flurry of anti-cougar bills introduced into the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.  Only one bill, HB2337, gained legs and passed over to the Senate, accompanied by much chest beating in the media by the hunting camp. HB2337 would have brought back the abusive sport hunting practice, twice rejected by Oregon voters, allowing trophy hunters to chase cougars with packs of hounds to tree the big cats for hunters' easy shooting. 

The bill hit roadblocks on the Senate side and it should have died quietly when the chair of the Senate committee refused to give it a hearing.  Instead, the anti-cougar forces sponsoring the bill began playing dirty at the session's end to ram it through by attempting to amend another bill with cougar hounding language.  When that failed to materialize, Republicans attempted to hold the final budget bill of the session hostage by demanding passage of HB2337.  In the end, the senate president held his ground and the Corrections Department received their $15 million dollar budget without any cougar hounding extras.
  
The poor political sportsmanship used by those sponsoring this bill demonstrates the irrational rabid prejudice against cougars held by many and mirrors the poor sportsmanship of the unethical practice of hound hunting. Undoubtedly efforts will be renewed again next session to bring this despicable hunting tactic back.

Thank you to everyone who received our alerts and contacted legislators with your views.  We owe a huge thank you to both Senator Dingfelder and Senate President Peter Courtney for not reviving HB2337 and for honoring Oregon voters.  Please take a moment to thank these two remarkable senators via http://www.leg.state.or.us/senate/

Details on this ill-advised legislation are available below.

Cougar Hounding Bill Passed House; Help Stop It in Senate


May 1, 2011 Update - Oregon House Bill 2337 will reinstate sport hound hunting and hound-chasing of cougars on a county-by-county basis. Twice Oregon voters said NO to sport hounding of cougars. The governor and your legislators need to hear you say NO AGAIN..right now!

HB 2337 passed the House and is now before the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. Please contact committee members and your senator immediately as detailed below. Since things can change daily, please track the bill first at http://www.leg.state.or.us/searchmeas.html.

Here's How You Can Help

  • Immediately contact Senate Committee members and your Senator and ask them to oppose HB 2337, which would repeal Oregon's prohibition against hounding cougars (contact information). You can learn who your Senator is at www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr or by calling (800) 332-2313. If your senator happens to be a committee member, please be sure to let him or her know you are their constituent—this is extremely important.
    • NOTE: You do not need to be an Oregon resident to write or call.  Your concerns about cougars and wildlife management in Oregon are legitimate regardless of where you live. Let's keep committee member phones and emails loaded!
  • Call Governor Kitzhaber at (503) 378-3111 and ask him to veto HB 2337. Our governor has been supportive of cougar protections in the past and he has the ultimate power to protect them again right now. Make your call now!!
  • Join the Predator Defense "Cougar Alert List" and receive alerts directly in your inbox. Email brooks@predatordefense.org with ‘Cougar List’ in the subject line. (You will not receive loads of emails—only alerts on cougar issues.)

The Facts: Why These Bills Must Be Stopped

Talking Points: Use One or More When Contacting Your Senator

Use the talking points below about HB2337, PLEASE DO NOT COPY THE POINTS DIRECTLY! Instead, state the information in your own words. And, please remember to be polite! Provide your full name, phone number, and mailing address. You may call, email the letter, or mail it via the U.S. Postal Service.

1. HB 2337 overturns voter-approved state law prohibiting trophy hunters from using packs of dogs to chase cougars up tree limbs and hold them there for hunters to shoot at point blank range. Every year valuable legislative time is taken up by a few special interest hunters to reinstate a practice voters statewide rejected twice.

2. This bill will not save any money. The state always pays officials to be available to track damage-causing cougars at the time of conflict.

3. This bill claims to be about protecting public safety, but does not offer anything that is not already available. Current law allows the public and authorities to use hounds to remove any cougar threatening personal safety or property.

4. Hound hunters are not targeting cougars causing damage! They are after big trophy cats and will not be hunting in areas of human habitation, or at the moment when damage occurs which is the only time dogs can pick up the scent of that specific cougar.

5. This bill will create a conflicting, inconsistent, and confusing network of wildlife laws that will interfere with law enforcement. Currently the state is divided into cougar hunt zones, cougar target zones, wildlife management units, ODFW districts, and more. HB 2337 will create a chaotic nightmare for law enforcement on the ground by adding yet another set of boundaries with conflicting or different hunting regulations.

6. It is inappropriate for counties to make wildlife decisions. County administrators are not trained to make wildlife decisions.

7. This bill does nothing more than add another layer of cougar killing under the guise of public safety. If killing more cougars meant improved safety, Oregon would be conflict free! Cougar kills increased fourfold between 1995 and 2010. There is no science showing that removing or killing cougars reduces conflicts. In fact, the opposite has been demonstrated in Vancouver, B.C. and Washington State.

8. This bill may very well increase risk to the public. The best and most current science available shows that increased killing of cougars causes an unnatural increase of juveniles and these younger animals are the cats most often responsible for conflicts.

Contact Information

Senate Committee on Environment & Natural Resources

President of the Senate

Governor

Mailing Address (for all members):

State Capitol
900 Court St NE
Salem, OR 97310

 

Spotlight on Cougars

Other Animals at Risk

How You Can Help

With your help—writing letters, posting flyers or making a donation—we can expand our efforts to save native predators and stop illegal hunting, trapping, and extensive predator-killing programs.

Get involved. DONATE TODAY!