LINCOLN – State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha took his first shot Wednesday at repealing Nebraska's mountain lion hunting season.
During testimony at a hearing on his Legislative Bill 671, Chambers said he was not persuaded by arguments from opponents of his bill who support cougar hunting in the state.
"I will do all I can to prevent the extermination of any species in this state, especially when it's a predator at the top of the chain,'' he said.
Chambers offered a concession to opponents of his bill. He said he will not seek to repeal legal authority that allows people to shoot a mountain lion if they feel threatened or if the cat is a threat to livestock.
Chambers was joined by nine other speakers in calling for an end to the cat hunts. Six people spoke against repealing the season.
Stacy Swinney of Chadron, a Dawes County commissioner, said the Pine Ridge of northwest Nebraska has a serious mountain lion problem. He said cougars have lost their fear and respect of humans and walk through rural homesteads at will day or night.
"We live with them,'' he said. "Let's make them afraid of us.'''
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission took a neutral stance on the bill.
The commission this month opened its first cougar season, which allows for the killing of up to four cats from a designated hunting unit in the Pine Ridge. Wildlife biologists say genetic studies and other research indicate there is a breeding population of about 22 of the animals in the rugged region.
Two hunters each killed a cougar during the second day of the inaugural hunting season four weeks ago. A second season in the Pine Ridge is scheduled to begin Feb. 16. Much of the rest of Nebraska – where the habitat is not conducive to establishing a breeding population – is open to year-round mountain lion hunting for those who buy a $15 permit.
Mountain lions are native to Nebraska, but unregulated hunting, trapping and poisoning forced their retreat to higher-altitude Western states for nearly a century. Migrant cougars from South Dakota and Wyoming began filtering back to Nebraska in the early 1990s.
The committee took no immediate action on the bill.
