Cougar target areas

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SALEM, Ore.—The Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet Friday, Oct. 2 at ODFW Headquarters in Salem for an update regarding cougar target areas and to adopt 2010 big game hunting regulations.

The meeting begins at 8 a.m. at 3406 Cherry Ave, NE and proceeds through this agenda.

Cougar target areas

Cougar target areas are places where ODFW has been removing cougars in an attempt to reduce high levels of conflict between cougars and humans or livestock or increase big game populations where survival of young has been low and cougar depredation is believed to be a factor.

After the Commission adopted a new Oregon Cougar Management Plan in April 2006, ODFW implemented the state’s first three cougar target areas from October 2006 through 2009. During the meeting, ODFW staff will present an evaluation of these target areas, which took place in the Heppner Unit (Morrow County), the eastern portion of Beulah Unit (Malheur County) and in Jackson County.

Removing cougars achieved the desired effects in two units, reducing livestock-cougar conflict in E. Beulah and increasing elk calf survival in Heppner. But the cougar removals did not appear to reduce human safety/pet concerns in the Jackson County target area. Here, annual removal objectives of 24 cougars were never met due to land ownership patterns of small acreages that made it difficult to conduct removals.

ODFW staff will also provide information regarding four potential new cougar target areas in the following wildlife management units: Warner (Lake Co.), Steens Mountains (Harney Co.), Wenaha (Wallowa Co.) and Ukiah (Umatilla Co.). Both Warner and Steens Mountain units are part of ODFW’s Mule Deer Initiative, and the cougar removals in these units are primarily to help low mule deer populations. Wenaha and Ukiah units were selected because of elk populations in these areas have been well below management objectives for years. ODFW staff also plan to continue removals for one more year in the E. Beulah target area.

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