The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will hold a public hearing next month to consider expanding the areas where mountain lions could be harvested to a second region: the Niobrara Valley.
The hearing is scheduled for June 9 at the Alma Municipal Golf Course, 102 Dick Brown Memorial Drive in Alma, and will include an open comment period for interested members of the public.
Currently, the only region in Nebraska where mountain lions are permitted to be harvested is the Pine Ridge region, with an annual limit of four mountain lions and a sub-limit of two females — whichever comes first. If enacted, the Niobrara Valley region will add permits to harvest an additional two mountain lions with a sub-limit of one female.
Sam Wilson, the commission’s furbearer project manager, said there were a few reasons behind the expansion:
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* The mountain lion population's resiliency to harvest, meaning they are able to sustain and grow.
* Depredation, which provides harvest opportunities when there is a potential for livestock losses.
* Social tolerance, or how many animals people want around.
Wilson said the commission has been conducting research in the Niobrara Valley for many years, with seven mountain lions currently being tracked in the region. He said 2013 was the first time they witnessed evidence of reproduction with the first resident mountain lion.
Now, he said, "We think that there are likely 20 or more (mountain lions) in that area.”
Wilson said resident mountain lions likely recognized that there’s abundant prey in the area, so they stayed and started reproducing.
“Overall, mountain lions do well in the state,” Wilson said. “Our hunting seasons in the Pine Ridge have been successful and the population there has done well. We hope to also have similar success in the Niobrara (Valley) where we can find a balance between making sure the population is healthy and landowners and people in the area are willing to accept mountain lions at that level.”
If enacted, the new region will extend into parts of Cherry, Brown, Rock and Keya Paha counties, and will take effect in January 2024.