LUSK - Game and Fish Department biologists say mountain lion numbers have increased significantly in Wyoming over the past 30 years, and it's time to update the old approaches to managing the elusive cat.

The department presented a draft of its first-ever mountain lion management plan to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission during a meeting here this week.

The plan aims to sustain mountain lion populations where suitable habitat exists across the state, with varying levels of population densities, agency officials said.

Hunt area management objectives will be developed and evaluated based on harvest data, and officials said mountain lions will continue to be managed in Wyoming through annual mortality quotas.

"The (department) took a state-of-the-art approach when putting together this mountain lion plan," Game and Fish Deputy Director John Emmerich told commissioners.

Commissioners voted to take the draft management plan out for public review and comment. A final draft will be considered by the seven-member board when it meets in September in Casper.

Wyoming's mountain lion populations are the healthiest they've been in decades, said Chuck Anderson with the department's trophy game section.

Though the agency doesn't have population estimates per se, biologists believe mountain lions in Wyoming have increased in abundance and distribution and the animal currently occupies all suitable habitat statewide.

Robust populations are found in the Black Hills of northeastern Wyoming, southwest Wyoming's pinion-juniper country, and in major mountain ranges throughout the state.

Anderson said mountain lion management in the state has traditionally consisted of more art than science, largely due to the secretive nature and naturally low densities typical of large, solitary carnivores such as cougars.

The department began developing a mountain lion management plan in 1997, but postponed the effort due to a lack of necessary data to develop proper management objectives.

Anderson said the agency conducted mountain lion research from 1997 to 2003 to draw the necessary data for the draft management plan. He said from that data, biologists were able to develop the criteria to assess population trends under the management plan.

"We can use the sex and age (of harvested mountain lions) and this criteria to monitor population trends over time," Anderson said.

Hunting seasons

Mountain lions have been managed as a trophy game species in Wyoming since 1974. Hunters killed 181 mountain lions in 2004, down from 213 animals in 2001, according to Game and Fish data.

The current mountain lion hunting season regulation was approved by the commission in July 2003 for a three-year period. In April, the commission approved the department's request to continue the current hunt season for one more year and to not open mountain lion hunting regulations for revision until July 2007.

Anderson said under the plan, hunting season structure will be based on mountain lion mortality quotas. He said mortality quotas will be established for each of the 29 mountain lion hunt areas in the state. Under that approach, once a certain number of lions is killed in an area, the hunting season ends there.

For the first time, the department will look at all mountain lion mortality, regardless of whether it's by legal hunting or not, Trophy Game Coordinator Dave Moody said.

"Now, all forms of human-caused mortality will count toward those quota takes as well," Moody said. "The problem was … we couldn't get an accurate assessment of the population with the old way. We have to look at all forms of mortalities to really do that."

Most of the hunting seasons will run from September through March 31 under the draft plan, with the exception of two hunt areas with chronic livestock depredation. Hunting with hounds will continue to be allowed under the plan.

The plan calls for establishing mortality quotas every three years to allow sufficient time to reach management objectives and to permit adequate analysis of potential impacts of specific harvest quotas.

The department will also continue to use a variety of options, ranging from no action to lethal removal, to address mountain lion depredation on domestic livestock and pets and mountain lion/human interaction.

Reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at gearino@tribcsp.com.