Bill poses threat to cougars, bears.

Byline: Catherine Koehn For The Register-Guard

Oregon voters need to be concerned about a bill coming up next week in the Legislature that would allow the cruel killing of cougars and bears by trophy-hunters with packs of dogs.

This is the same unethical practice that Oregonians voted twice to outlaw.

Now the same small group of trophy-hunters is using scare tactics to try to pass House Bill 2436, which would overturn the elective will of Oregonians. In both a majority of us approved Measure 18, making the baiting and hounding of cougars and bears illegal. We affirmed our vote in 1996 by rejecting Measure 34, a legislative proposal to repeal Measure 18.

Hounding is an inhumane and unnecessary practice that allows packs of radio-collared hounds to chase and kill cougars. Baiting allows trophy hunters to pile rotting garbage in the forest, so the lazy hunters can shoot the bears at point blank range. There is no need to allow these arcane and onerous practices again in Oregon. Measure 18 has proven to be a resounding success!

In the decade since these unfair and unsporting hunting techniques were banned, no cougar or bear has hurt anybody in the state. None of the doomsday scenarios that houndsmen predicted has occurred. In fact, no one has been attacked by either a cougar or bear in this state, ever.

Bears are especially vulnerable to these unfair killing techniques. Oregon's entire bear population would be greatly threatened by this proposed legislation. The worldwide population of bears is currently under direct lethal threat from the thriving international black market in bear galls. There would be a wholesale slaughter of Oregon's bears if HB 2436 were approved. Already in recent decades, several crime rings have already been caught and prosecuted for poaching bear gall bladders in Oregon, because of this lucrative black market.

We cannot allow such unethical treatment of bears and cougars in our state. They serve important biological functions in the forest ecosystem. Studies in Arizona's Kiabab Plateau have proven that healthy cougar populations are necessary for the virility of deer and elk herds, because they kill off the slow and infirm members and leave the strongest for successful breeding.

I also hope that legislators are aware that in Oregon we have laws on the books that make it illegal to harass any wildlife. The dictionary says the word "harass" derives from the French, "to chase with packs of dogs." Unleashing packs of trained dogs to terrorize our wildlife is no more acceptable now than in 1994 or 1996.

Trophy-hunters' goal is to kill themselves a really big bear or cougar. This practice winds up killing the oldest, biggest "toms." Taking out the largest cats directly causes a public safety threat. It's dangerous because it destabilizes the territorial balance of that area - when an old cat is killed, young cougars who are looking for their own territory start migrating. And these cats are the ones that foolishly venture down to where people live and have to be destroyed.

HB 2436 is not a public safety issue: People and private property are already sufficiently protected. Farmers can be compensated for any livestock losses, and any animals that get too close to settled areas can be legally killed. While there have been increased sightings in some areas, it seems these keystone predators have adopted a live and let-live policy toward our kind.

The cougars and bears need our help now. Please directly contact your representatives and the governor and ask them not to pass HB 2436, or to allow any amendments to Measure 18.

Every year, several people are killed by hunters. If legislators want to improve public safety, I might suggest that they make hunting illegal, and leave the cougars and bears alone.

Catherine Koehn of Eugene was director of the Northwest Cougar Action Trust during the Measure 18 campaign.