WITHDRAWN 3/4/04

6118-S AMH UPTH CALL 012

SSB 6118 - H AMD

By Representative Upthegrove

   Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

   "NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The department of fish and wildlife, in cooperation and collaboration with the county legislative authorities of those counties satisfying the requirements of section 2 of this act, may recommend rules to establish a three-year pilot program within select cougar management units of the participating counties, to pursue or kill cougars with the aid of dogs. A pursuit season and a kill season with the aid of dogs may be established through the fish and wildlife commission's rule-making process consistent with this act, utilizing local dangerous wildlife task teams comprised of the two collaborating authorities. The two collaborating authorities shall also develop a more effective and accurate dangerous wildlife reporting system to ensure a timely response. The pilot program's primary goals are to provide for public safety, to protect property, and to assess cougar populations.

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Any legislative authority of a county that has located within its borders a cougar management unit, or portion of a unit, being managed by the department of fish and wildlife for public safety may choose to participate in a three-year cougar pilot project in cooperation and collaboration with the department of fish and wildlife by:

   (a) Adopting a resolution by the county legislative authority to request that the department of fish and wildlife include the county in the pilot program;

   (b) Documenting the need to participate in the pilot program, including identifying the number of cougar human safety incidents and livestock and pet depredations; and

   (c) Demonstrating that existing cougar depredation permits, public safety cougar hunts, or other existing wildlife management tools have not been sufficient to deal with cougar incidents in the county.

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Any rules adopted pursuant to this section must be consistent with the recommendations emerging from research on cougar population dynamics in a multi-prey environment conducted by Washington State University's department of natural resource sciences, and funded in whole or in part by the department of fish and wildlife."

   Correct the title.

EFFECT: Limits pursuit and kill seasons to cougar management areas being managed for public safety in counties that express a willingness to participate and that can show a documented need, and requires all rules adopted by the Fish and Wildlife Commission relating to the pilot project to be consistent with research on cougar population dynamics conducted by Washington State University.