OPPOSE 2 ANTI - MOUNTAIN LION BILLS IN THE SD LEGISLATURE
=================================================There are two bills this year
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OPPOSE SB 76 (dead)
SB 76's reconsideration vote was narrowly defeated 35 to 34 on Tuesday Feb 4th. It was defeated on the House Floor on Monday Feb 3rd in a narrow vote (35 to 33). This bill passed out of the senate with a 13 to 21 vote & sent to the House and referred to House Judiciary. It passed Judiciary 8 to 5. Thanks to all who worked to kill this bill.
The bill was opposed in Committee by Paul Lepisto representing the SD Izaak Walton League. He said the SD DGFP is already controlling the Mountain Lion Population, that lions are a big game animal worth $5,000 each and deserve to be treated with respect and that predators are a necessary part of the fauna.
To see amendment:http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Amendment.aspx?Amend=amd76oa.htm&Session=2014
To see the 2 votes on the house floor
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/RollCall.aspx?Vote=16855&Session=2014
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/RollCall.aspx?Vote=16901&Session=2014
To see the one vote on senate floor:
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/RollCall.aspx?Vote=15374&Session=2014http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/RollCall.aspx?Vote=16901&Session=2014
To see the one vote on senate floor:
To see the House Judiciary vote:
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/RollCall.aspx?Vote=16661&Session=2014
To see Senate Committee vote:
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/RollCall.aspx?Vote=15272&Session=2014
You can listen to the discussions of any action here - the blue eagles on right column indicate sound recordings-
To download the bill:
http://legis.sd.gov/docs/legsession/2014/Bills/SB76S.pdf
To view its current status:
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?Bill=76&Session=2014
Despite what movies, TV and novels would lead you to believe, nationwide cougar attacks are very rare. In the one hundred years, between 1890-1990 Beier documented a total of 9 fatal attacks on 10 humans and 44 non fatal attacks on 48 humans in the United state and Canada. Fitzhugh reports a total of 16 fatal and 92 non-fatal attacks from 1890 to 2003. (Of those 7 fatal and 38 non fatal attacks occurred after Beier published his study and 10 non fatal attacks were missed by Beier -- some attacks occurred after Beiers time interval and Beier missed a few) (Cougar Management Guidelines, page 84). Thus in one hundred and 13 years, in two very large nations, (both Canada and the United States) you see an average rate of 1.4 fatal attacks every 10 years and average rate of 8.1 non fatal attacks every 10 years, remember that includes both countries. That's a very small risk. Attacks are rare, however the endless fascination of the media with threat from large predators, distorts reality and misleads public.
While risks are low, ironically research in Washington State shows that aggressive cougar hunting policy may in fact increase human and livestock conflicts as overly heavy hunting shifts the sex/age structure and replaces older males with teenage males. A video on Wielgus and Washington State Research can be found at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_ZD-PAKhSo
Here are links to articles by the three leading scholars who have published scientific articles on mountain lion attacks in the past 25 years:
Beier 1991. Cougar attacks on humans in the United States and Canada. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 19:403-412.
Fitzhugh et al. 2003. Lessening the impact of a mountain lion attack on a human. pp. 89-103.
Mattson et al. 2011 Factors governing the risk of cougar attacks on humans.
If you go to the SD Legislative Research Council (SD LRC) web site, and look up each legislator, you see their home phones, they have a 3 day weekend and you can call them at home and talk to them directly
Talking points
1) The existing statute is fine and does not need to be changed.
2) Risk from cougars to people is very small and exaggerated by media
3) This language is too subjective and will allow needless killing by fearful folk of innocent mountain lions who actually pose no threat.
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OPPOSE HB 1068 (dead)
HB 1068 would have expanded the use of dogs in hunting mountain lions: it would allow the use of dogs outside the Black Hills Fire District to kill lions. It was in Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources on Tuesday, Feb 18th, 10 am Central Time, It passed out of committee 6 to 2,
To view Committee vote, a nay vote is pro-cougar vote;
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/RollCall.aspx?Vote=16158&Session=2014
To view Senate floor vote, a nay vote is the pro-cougar vote:
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/RollCall.aspx?Vote=16680&Session=2014
It passed House 48 to 22 on Wednesday Feb 5th 2014. To view the vote:
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/RollCall.aspx?Vote=15638&Session=2014
To download the bill:
http://legis.sd.gov/docs/legsession/2014/Bills/HB1068HAG.pdf
To follow its progress in the legislature:
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?Bill=1068&Session=2014,
To view current mountain lion season rules visit
http://legis.sd.gov/rules/DisplayRule.aspx?Rule=41:06:61
For all practical purposes, it's already open season on mountain lions outside the Black Hills Fire Protection District. Any South Dakota resident can kill, 365 days of the year, a lion outside the Black Hills, if they possess a mountain lion hunting license ($28.00). In 2005 - 2007 the cougar season was statewide and all lions harvested counted against the harvest limit. 2008 - 2011 SDGFP made the Black Hills one unit and the rest of the state another unit where landowners could hunt on their own land all year (no quota restricted). 2012 to present, SDGFP have allowed anyone to hunt anywhere in the state year round with the Black Hills as a separate unit (no quota restricts) .Thus the limited three-month season with quota on lions only applies to the Black Hills lions.
Currently hunting with dogs is allowed at the discretion of the SDGFP Commission. They now only allow it in Custer State Park; 16 permits annually are issued. This is a compromise between the public that objects to hound hunting for various reasons and those who want it. Hunting with dogs is a much more efficient way of catching a mountain lion than the "boot hunt." If hound hunting is allowed, the hound hunters will get more lions & get them sooner than the "boot hunters"; thus diverse interests of different sort of hunters may effect the extent of the "boot" vs. "hound hunt". With a "boot hunt" on the prairie, a lion has a better hope to escape a "boot hunter" but a dedicated hound hunter will likely find and kill it.
Several of the SD Native American Reservations have suitable habitat for mountain lions.
On some of these reservations they have credible but unconfirmed sightings of kittens with moms and one has a female lion of breeding age, that wears a tracking collar. For a hunter to legally hunt lions on the reservation with dogs, hunter would need tribal permits, but most reservations don't allow hunting of lions. Due to the Allotment Act and the removal of some counties in SD by the Supreme Court from Reservation jurisdiction, there is a checker board of tribal and non-tribal ownership in and around some reservations. Thus when hound hunting, especially if hounds are not actively supervised and controlled by a person traveling with them, hound hunting on prairie, may result in both trespass and in actual violation of tribal hunting laws. However tribal officers can't arrest non-tribal violators, merely confiscate property and evict.
Most lions killed outside the Hills are males, but some lions killed are sub-adult or breeding age females and kittens have been shot near Oral, SD and near Fairburn, SD. Since Sept 2000, SDGFP lion mortality data shows 14 wild female lions, 1 declawed female lion and two kittens have been killed outside the Black Hills Fire Protection District. One got all the way to Howard, SD before it was killed. We can send on request a map that shows the locations of lions killed outside the Fire District and their relation to areas with trees. We can send spreadsheets of mortality data for prairie & Black Hills. Thus the animal cruelty issue extends to hounds chasing and killing kittens and the orphaning of kittens still dependent on moms for food and/or for learning hunting and survival skills. SD research shows lions dependent on moms from 10-18 months, but national research extends that to 24 months. Lions give birth year round, so you can't design a mountain lions season to prevent killing of mothers with dependent cubs. HSUS provides discussion of cruelty issue:
This bill was killed on Senate Floor in a close vote on Wednesday 2/26, thanks to all who helped kill it.
Senator Bradford spoke against the bill on the floor of the Senate. HB 1068 would have expanded the use of dogs in hunting mountain lions: it would allow the use of dogs outside the Black Hills Fire District to kill lions. It was in Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources on Tuesday, Feb 18th, 10 am Central Time, It passed out of committee 6 to 2,
To view Committee vote, a nay vote is pro-cougar vote;
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/RollCall.aspx?Vote=16158&Session=2014
To view Senate floor vote, a nay vote is the pro-cougar vote:
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/RollCall.aspx?Vote=16680&Session=2014
It passed House 48 to 22 on Wednesday Feb 5th 2014. To view the vote:
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/RollCall.aspx?Vote=15638&Session=2014
To download the bill:
http://legis.sd.gov/docs/legsession/2014/Bills/HB1068HAG.pdf
To follow its progress in the legislature:
http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?Bill=1068&Session=2014,
To view current mountain lion season rules visit
http://legis.sd.gov/rules/DisplayRule.aspx?Rule=41:06:61
For all practical purposes, it's already open season on mountain lions outside the Black Hills Fire Protection District. Any South Dakota resident can kill, 365 days of the year, a lion outside the Black Hills, if they possess a mountain lion hunting license ($28.00). In 2005 - 2007 the cougar season was statewide and all lions harvested counted against the harvest limit. 2008 - 2011 SDGFP made the Black Hills one unit and the rest of the state another unit where landowners could hunt on their own land all year (no quota restricted). 2012 to present, SDGFP have allowed anyone to hunt anywhere in the state year round with the Black Hills as a separate unit (no quota restricts) .Thus the limited three-month season with quota on lions only applies to the Black Hills lions.
Currently hunting with dogs is allowed at the discretion of the SDGFP Commission. They now only allow it in Custer State Park; 16 permits annually are issued. This is a compromise between the public that objects to hound hunting for various reasons and those who want it. Hunting with dogs is a much more efficient way of catching a mountain lion than the "boot hunt." If hound hunting is allowed, the hound hunters will get more lions & get them sooner than the "boot hunters"; thus diverse interests of different sort of hunters may effect the extent of the "boot" vs. "hound hunt". With a "boot hunt" on the prairie, a lion has a better hope to escape a "boot hunter" but a dedicated hound hunter will likely find and kill it.
Several of the SD Native American Reservations have suitable habitat for mountain lions.
On some of these reservations they have credible but unconfirmed sightings of kittens with moms and one has a female lion of breeding age, that wears a tracking collar. For a hunter to legally hunt lions on the reservation with dogs, hunter would need tribal permits, but most reservations don't allow hunting of lions. Due to the Allotment Act and the removal of some counties in SD by the Supreme Court from Reservation jurisdiction, there is a checker board of tribal and non-tribal ownership in and around some reservations. Thus when hound hunting, especially if hounds are not actively supervised and controlled by a person traveling with them, hound hunting on prairie, may result in both trespass and in actual violation of tribal hunting laws. However tribal officers can't arrest non-tribal violators, merely confiscate property and evict.
SD has a law that State Agencies shall consult with tribes, if SDGFP retains the authority to decide on the
prairie hound hunt, it may consult with tribes about their wishes when lion home ranges overlap jurisdiction and consider tribal wishes when making choices about seasons and methods:
SDCL 1-54-5. " Consultation with tribal government regarding state programs. It is the policy of the state to consult with a tribal
government regarding the conduct of state and local government programs which have the potential of affecting tribal members on
the reservation. This section confers a procedural right but may not be construed to confer any substantive rights on any party in
any litigation or otherwise.
http://legis.sd.gov/Statutes/Codified_Laws/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=1-54-5
The SD Dept. of GFP has erroneously describes all habitat outside the Black Hills Fire Protection District as "unsuitable." In fact, there is suitable habitat out there. The Fire Protection District is designed for easy identification of borders with major roads on edge and it cuts off some suitable hogback or river habitat that is proximal to the Black Hills and is used by lions. Other habitat exists along the major river corridors, on some Native American Reservations, and on other wooded hills or escarpments, such as Custer National Forest. Lion home ranges are large and may overlap both tribal & state hunting jurisdictions. Male lions in SD & Wyoming have an average home range of about 641.1 square kilometers (about 400 square miles) (Dan Thompson - 2009 PhD Thesis, page 116). A square box bordered with 20 miles sides, creates 400 square mile area. Females have smaller home ranges.
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/hound_hunting/facts/hounding_fact_sheet.html#.UvKzIvYnsyE
Allegations that only males disperse, is disingenuous. Protection of females and kittens on the prairie is essential for creating breeding populations on the SD Prairie. A high proportion of the lions that are killed in the Midwest are from the Black Hills, so free movement across our prairie, especially of females, will facilitate re-colonization of habitat to east, north and south.
Talking points:
Object to the automatic hunting of lions with hounds on the prairie and ask them to leave the choice about hound hunting to the SD GFP Commission (who already has the authority to allow hound hunting on prairie) or not permit it entirely in SD. Other points:
1) Due to large size of cougar home ranges and suitable habitat on some reservations, consultation of GFP with Tribes is needed about lion policy in areas proximal to reservations: leaving policy to GFP Commission is more flexible and allows for communication with tribes about tribal cougar goals.
2) Hound hunting results in trespass and will likely result in violation of Tribal hunting laws if in or near Reservations
3) Hunting with hounds is not "fair chase"
4) Hound hunters are more effective & beat "boot hunters" to lions
5) Hunting with hounds is not humane
6) The prairie includes areas without trees, and thus poses even more risk of lion & dog fights
7) Support the recovery of breeding populations of cougars in suitable habitat on prairie. When cougar populations are small, connectivity to larger cougar populations is needed for viability.
Hound hunting is more effective than "boot hunting" and will make recovery on prairie even more difficult, given the 365 day prairie season.
Talking points:
Object to the automatic hunting of lions with hounds on the prairie and ask them to leave the choice about hound hunting to the SD GFP Commission (who already has the authority to allow hound hunting on prairie) or not permit it entirely in SD. Other points:
1) Due to large size of cougar home ranges and suitable habitat on some reservations, consultation of GFP with Tribes is needed about lion policy in areas proximal to reservations: leaving policy to GFP Commission is more flexible and allows for communication with tribes about tribal cougar goals.
2) Hound hunting results in trespass and will likely result in violation of Tribal hunting laws if in or near Reservations
3) Hunting with hounds is not "fair chase"
4) Hound hunters are more effective & beat "boot hunters" to lions
5) Hunting with hounds is not humane
6) The prairie includes areas without trees, and thus poses even more risk of lion & dog fights
7) Support the recovery of breeding populations of cougars in suitable habitat on prairie. When cougar populations are small, connectivity to larger cougar populations is needed for viability.
Hound hunting is more effective than "boot hunting" and will make recovery on prairie even more difficult, given the 365 day prairie season.
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