The following Substitute Senate Bill 5356 for another 5 year pilot program for houndhunting cougar passed out of the Senate and is headed for the House.
I underlined a couple key amendments to take notice of. I figure this is better than nothing. At least if it makes it into law there may be some opportunity to hunt our dogs and keep them trained.
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5356
_____________________________________________
State of Washington 62nd Legislature 2011 Regular Session
By Senate Natural Resources & Marine Waters (originally sponsored by
Senators Morton, Swecker, Ericksen, Schoesler, Delvin, Hatfield, and
Roach)
READ FIRST TIME 02/17/11.
1 AN ACT Relating to allowing the use of dogs to hunt cougars;
2 amending 2008 c 8 ss 1 and 2 (uncodified); adding new sections to
3 chapter 77.12 RCW; and providing expiration dates.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
5 Sec. 1. 2008 c 8 s 1 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:
6 (1)(a) The department ((of fish and wildlife)), in cooperation and
7 collaboration with the county legislative authorities of Ferry,
8 Stevens, Pend Oreille, Chelan, and Okanogan counties, shall recommend
9 rules to establish ((a three-year)) an additional five-year pilot
10 program, beyond the program authorized by chapter 8, Laws of 2008,
11 within select game management units of these counties, to pursue or
12 kill cougars with the aid of dogs.
13 (b) A pursuit season and a kill season with the aid of dogs must be
14 established through the ((fish and wildlife)) commission's rule-making
15 process, utilizing local dangerous wildlife task teams comprised of the
16 two collaborating authorities. The two collaborating authorities shall
17 also develop a more effective and accurate dangerous wildlife reporting
18 system to ensure a timely response.
p. 1 SSB 5356
1 (c) The pilot program's primary goals are to provide for public
2 safety, to protect property, and to assess, conserve, and manage cougar
3 populations.
4 (2) Any rules adopted by the ((fish and wildlife)) commission to
5 establish a pilot project allowing for the pursuit or hunting of
6 cougars with the aid of dogs under this section only must ensure that
7 all pursuits or hunts are:
8 (a) Designed to protect public safety or property;9 (b) Reflective of the most current cougar population data;
10 (c) Designed to generate data that is necessary for the department
11 to satisfy the reporting requirements of section 3 of this act; ((and))
12 (d) Consistent with any applicable recommendations emerging from
13 research on cougar population dynamics in a multiprey environment
14 funded in whole or in part by the department of fish and wildlife; and
15 (e) Conditioned on the licensed hunter participating in the pilot
16 program not being permitted to exchange payment to a commercial
17 enterprise for the use of dogs for the purposes of hunting under the
18 license.19 (3) The department ((of fish and wildlife)) may authorize ((three
20 additional seasons)) an additional five seasons, beyond the program
21 authorized by chapter 8, Laws of 2008, in which cougars may be pursued
22 or killed with dogs, subject to the other conditions of the pilot
23 project. The additional seasons are authorized to aid the department
24 in the gathering of information necessary to formulate a recommendation
25 to the legislature regarding whether a permanent program is warranted,
26 and if so, what constraints, goals, and objectives should be included
27 in a permanent program.
28 (4) This section expires July 1, 2016.
29 Sec. 2. 2008 c 8 s 2 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:
30 (1) A county legislative authority may request inclusion in the
31 additional ((three)) five years of the cougar control pilot project
32 authorized by section 1 of this act after taking the following actions:
33 (((1))) (a) Adopting a resolution that requests inclusion in the
34 pilot project;
35 (((2))) (b) Documenting the need to participate in the pilot
36 project by identifying the number of cougar/human encounters and
37 livestock and pet depredations;
SSB 5356 p. 2
1 (((3))) (c) Developing and agreeing to the implementation of an
2 education program designed to disseminate to landowners and other
3 citizens information about predator exclusion techniques and devices
4 and other nonlethal methods of cougar management; and
5 (((4))) (d) Demonstrating that existing cougar depredation permits,
6 public safety cougar hunts, or other existing wildlife management tools
7 have not been sufficient to deal with cougar incidents in the county.
8 (2) The department shall automatically include a county
9 participating in the pilot program authorized by chapter 8, Laws of
10 2008 into the additional five-year pilot program extension authorized
11 in section 1 of this act under the initial terms of inclusion.
12 (3) This section expires July 1, 2016.
13 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) By September 1, 2015, the department
14 shall deliver to the legislature, consistent with RCW 43.01.036, a
15 progress report summarizing the pilot program authorized in section 1
16 of this act. The report must include information relating to how the
17 program has been used to assess cougar population levels and protect
18 public safety and property. The report may also include any
19 recommendations as to how the cougar management policies may be changed
20 in the future to achieve more effective or efficient management.
21 (2) This section expires July 1, 2016.
22 NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Sections 1 through 3 of this act are each
23 added to chapter 77.12 RCW.
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