Cat Comments Sought

Fish and Game wants to know how Idahoans wish their mountain lions to be managed. The department is currently revisiting its management philosophy for Idaho's biggest wild cats and deciding whether or not revisions are needed. The Fish and Game Commission will include any changes when they set big game rules in March. Lion management was last revised in 1991. Three management options are currently under consideration:

1. Manage mountain lions to maintain their current distribution throughout the state and maintain or increase numbers.
   
   
2. Manage mountain lions at a range of densities throughout the state, from no lions where their presence is considered undesirable, to moderate densities in many units, and higher densities in remote areas.
   
   
3. Increase opportunities to harvest mountain lions with the intention of maintaining mountain lion populations only in remote, core areas.

Fish and Game would like to know which option is preferred or if another option should be considered. Comments should be submitted by January 9 so they can be considered by the Commission at its January meeting. Information packets with a comment form are available at Fish and Game offices. Written comments can be addressed to Mountain Lion Comment, IDFG, Box 25, Boise, Idaho 83707. Information is available and comments can be submitted online at http://www2.state.id.us/fishgame/Hunt/ProgramsInfo/lionoptions/default… Idaho's mountain lion numbers and distribution have apparently increased dramatically since 1991. In recent years, lion hunters have taken more than 700 cats each season, two to three times the take of a decade ago.