Wyoming Game Dept.
Pans Lynx Listing

PINEDALE, Wyo. —(AP)— Protecting lynx under the Endangered Species Act is premature and may cause the federal government to intervene in other areas, a state wildlife official said.

The department "supports federal listing of species when we have information and assurance that listing will ... improve the species' situation," department Deputy Director Bill Wichers wrote in a recent letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Listing the animal as a threatened species, as proposed, would result in "some loss of local control of management, not only of the lynx but of other species whose management is associated with lynx," such as bobcats, he said, according to the Pinedale Roundup.

A listing could impact hunting and fishing access, forestry, oil and gas development and road building, he said. (Not to mention predator control. — Ed.)

"The extent of this ripple effect should be considered throroughly before listing, as federal guidelines may be inflexible and have undesirable effects on local resource management," he wrote.

In June, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed adding the lynx to the list of species protected by the Endangered Species Act.

The Game and Fish Department is advocating an interim approach to lynx management, where the federal government funds state data-gathering and conservation efforts.

State officials maintain Wyoming provides only marginal lynx habitat and that the species' distribution has changed little over time.

A letter, sent by Wyoming's senators and nine others, requested a 90-day extension of the Sept. 30 deadline, which was extended until Oct. 14 at the request of several Minnesota and Great Lakes area American Indian tribes.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has not yet said whether the agency will approve the request.

Meanwhile, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department wants to manage an increasing population of mountain lions that is threatening humans and killing deer.

"We feel it's just a matter of time before there's serious injury or death," said Wyoming Game and Fish Director John Baughman. "We get calls every week by kids being followed" by a lion.

Anywhere from 500 to 2000 lions inhabit Wyoming, he told the legislative Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee in Riverton.

The average lion kills between 25 and 50 deer annually, he said.

Because of the growing population, hunters have been allowed to kill 160 lions this year from an annual average of 39 during the early 1980s, he said.

In Montana, Idaho, Colorado and Wyoming, the number of hunted lions rose to 1700 from an annual average of 486.

Many people attribute the increase in lions to an early 1970s ban on predator poisoning, he said.

The department has taken more aggressive action against lions that threaten humans, and allows a second hunting license for lions in some areas.

But the department may be nearing the maximum number of lions it can make available for hunting, Baughman said. Hunting more lions may result in a public outcry.

"I think the entire American public has made it clear that they want large predators to stay," he said.

(As long as someone else feeds them and faces the risks. — Ed.)

The agency would like to establish a plan that allows the state to reduce the lion population in areas where more deer are needed or human safety is a concern.

"I believe it's the direction we need to go," he said. "We need to get concerns from people and get those under the plan."