The county agriculture commissioner supports reinstatement of a long-absent mountain lion count and plans to request that supervisors endorse a letter to the state fish and game department encouraging California leaders to reconsider it.
San Benito County Agriculture Commissioner Paul Matulich believes the state should reestablish a count because "nothing's been done since 1988" and there are concerns related to public safety, livestock security and a declining deer population. He plans to present the county board with a letter requesting a reinstatement to the lion count at its meeting May 26.
Fish and game stopped conducting official cougar counts 21 years ago as the species' population in the state - neither endangered nor threatened - had been stabilized and healthy for years. Matulich and others have become more concerned recently that the population in San Benito County has experienced a significant bump in recent years and that daytime sightings are far more likely today than they were long ago.
The most likely downside of a potentially booming cougar population is the possibility for livestock losses. Though cougars rarely approach humans, some locals also are concerned about their families' safety while citing how the species in general here has been more comfortable with daytime roaming.
The agriculture commissioner contends a big downside has been the steep decline to the deer population here and statewide. The population was one million to 1.5 million deer statewide in the 1960s, he said. Now, it is under 500,000.
He plans to address that issue in his letter to fish and game.
In particular, Matulich said the letter will question a section of Proposition 117 - the measure passed in 1990 to outlaw lion hunting in California - which also places an emphasis on protecting the state deer herd. It includes a provision setting aside $10 million for the protection of mountain lions and deer, he noted.
"Apparently, they're not going out of their way to use the money to protect the deer herd," Matulich said.
Kollin Kosmicki Kollin Kosmicki is editor of the Free Lance and Pinnacle. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 337 or editor@freelancenews.com.
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