The new West-central Lion Ecoregional Population Objective Committee is convening for the first time on Aug 15-16 to discuss the management of mountain lions in west-central Montana.
The committee will meet in Anaconda at Pintler’s Portal (218 W. Park St, Anaconda MT) from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days. The meeting will also be live streamed and recorded.
The public is invited to participate in the meeting in-person or online. To join online, see the meeting details online at: fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/wc-mountain-lion-workgroup. A time for public comments is scheduled for Aug 16 at noon, but the exact time may vary.
This committee consists of 13 citizens representing a broad spectrum of mountain lion stakeholders who reside within or close to the west-central Montana ecoregion. The committee will meet this month and again in October to deliberate and make recommendations that Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks can carry forward to the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The committee will work with FWP to define a planning strategy to manage the west-central mountain lion ecoregional population for sustainability at a target level that maximizes public satisfaction related to lion hunter opportunity, lion conflict, and ungulate population trends.
The committee will specifically focus on developing recommendations regarding:
Target population trend (increase, decrease, stable)
Degree of ecoregional population size change (% up or % down)
Lion Management Unit (LMU) emphasis (e.g., older-age class harvest, conflict reduction, aid ungulates, more opportunity, or others)
The committee is not charged with recommending season structures, license types, or specific allocation of quotas among Lion Management Units (LMUs).
In 2019, the Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted the Montana Mountain Lion Monitoring and Management Strategy. This strategy outlines the scientific basis for conserving, monitoring, and managing harvest of mountain lions in Montana. An integral part of implementing this new strategy is the formulation of a committee in each of the three western ecoregions.
For more information, visit https://fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/wc-mountain-lion-workgroup.
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