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Grand Canyon Sierra Club Press Releases and Action Alerts

09/25/01

GAME AND FISH STILL GUNNING FOR MOUNTAIN LIONS

YOUR LETTERS AND CALLS NEEDED TO STOP "EXPERIMENT"

Once again, we need your help with this mountain lion proposal. The Arizona Game and Fish Commission and Department are gearing up to kill up to 36 mountain lions near Saguaro, Apache, and Canyon Lakes on the Tonto National Forest as part of a preposterous plan to assess the impact of lion predation on bighorn sheep. The experiment has no merit and, indeed, is nothing more than predator control disguised as scientific research. The Department is believed to have completed its analysis of public comments on the project's draft environmental assessment and intends to start killing lions. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must approve the plan before any lions can be killed and, therefore, represents the last hope for stopping this unnecessary experiment.

COURTEOUS CALLS AND LETTERS TO MS. NANCY KAUFMAN, THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE'S REGIONAL DIRECTOR IN ALBUQUERQUE, NM, ARE IMMEDIATELY NECESSARY TO STOP THE GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT'S MOUNTAIN LION KILLING PLAN. ASK MS. KAUFMAN TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO PREPARE AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT (EIS) TO EVALUATE ALL REASONABLE ALTERNATIVES INCLUDING THOSE THAT DO NOT INCLUDE KILLING MOUNTAIN LIONS OR, PREFERABLY, TO TERMINATE THE EXPERIMENT DUE TO ITS LACK OF SCIENTIFIC MERIT.

Write to:

Ms. Nancy Kaufman, Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 2 Southwest Regional Office, 500 Gold Ave., SW, Room 3018, Albuquerque, NM 87102; Telephone: (505) 248-6282; Fax: (505) 248-6910; email nancy_kaufman@fws.gov

When contacting Ms. Kaufman, you may want to make the following points:

• There is no evidence to justify the killing of lions. The Department's own data and reports demonstrate that drought and disease (introduced by domestic sheep) have had a far greater impact on bighorn sheep than have the mountain lions. Drought has reduced bighorn habitat quality while domestic sheep disease has been identified by Department biologists as the number one concern for the survival of the bighorn sheep in this area.

• The Department's mountain lion scat analysis data demonstrate that lions are killing more rabbits, javelina, and deer than bighorn sheep. There is no evidence that lions are responsible for the reported decline in bighorn sheep.

• Department data on mountain lion predation of desert bighorn sheep is
  based on evidence from the Stewart Mountain area which the Department concedes is poor bighorn sheep habitat. If lions are killing bighorn in that area, such predation is entirely natural and expected.

• The Department's experiment cannot pass scientific muster. There is no control group and the number of experimental variables is so large that no meaningful data will result.

• The experiment is predator control poorly disguised as scientific research. Tell the Fish and Wildlife Service that the Game and Fish Department's plan is unnecessary, wasteful, and bad science.

• The Department's anti-predator bias should not be condoned or supported by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Thank you for your interest and concern for Arizona's wildlife. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me at 602-253-8633.

Sandy Bahr
Conservation Outreach Director
Sierra Club - Grand Canyon Chapter
812 N. Third St
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone (602) 253-8633 Fax (602) 258-6533
grandcanyon@qwest.net

Page updated: 09/25/01

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Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633