New NDOW director Ken Mayer has inherited a 30 year mess. This mess was created by the two former directors, Willie Molini and Terry Crawforth. Also helping to create the mess were the wildlife commissioners who were appointed by former governors Bob Miller and Kenny Guinn. These Wildlife commissioners had no guts to stand up to the former directors so they need to share the blame for the loss of our deer.

Mountain lion at a watering hole.

HUNTER’S ALERT does not believe these new changes will have much of an impact on increasing lion harvest, but we are willing to give it a try. If it doesn’t produce satisfactory results, HUNTER’S ALERT will be back at the next legislative session with a proposal that will work. Listed below are Director Mayer’s recommendations. At least he is trying to do something. That’s more than could be said for the last two directors and the “do nothing” Wildlife Commission. Time will tell and we wish Ken Mayer success.

1.)                Institute changes to the mountain lion tag application process.

a.       Create a better way for an online visitor to the NDOW website to locate mountain lion tag application page.

b.      Coordinate with NDOW’s contractor Systems Consultants Incorporated to create an application process through the huntnevada.com website.

c.       Modify the paper deer and big game application forms to provide a hunter with the opportunity to obtain a mountain lion tag simultaneous to the annual spring big game draw process.

2.)                Use NDOW’s established publications, like the Nevada Hunt Book  and the Big Game Seasons and Application Regulations booklet, to promote mountain lion hunting in Nevada. Other media outlets also available to NDOW should be considered in this regard.

3.)                Establish a Department policy that results in a consistent approach among all Department employees in reference to section 5 of NAC 502.370 regarding “the instructions of the representative” toward persons that unintentionally catch or kill a mountain lion. Specifically, the policy should allow for a person that unintentionally captures a lion in a trap set for furbearers to take that lion as long as the person possesses a mountain lion tag and as long as the mountain lion is neither a spotted kitten nor a female accompanied by a spotted kitten(s).

4.)                Dedicate revenue derived from the predator management fee assessed for each tag application to support a NDOW staff biologist to administer the Predation Management Program. That position was originally created following legislation that enacted the funding mechanism; however, the position has remained vacant for nearly two years. Fill that vacancy so that the program receives the full attention it deserves.

5.)                Ensure that the focus of the Predation Management Program is on management actions that correct predator/prey imbalances for the benefit of big game species, especially mule deer, and that indirect administrative costs are kept to a minimum.

6.)                Establish a mechanism that allows for direct coordination between the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners’ (Commission) Wildlife Damage Management Committee (Predator Committee) and Nevada’s landowners and livestock producers. This relationship will facilitate a dialog that would allow the Predator Committee to benefit from the experience and knowledge that Nevada’s ranchers have regarding localized predator issues. This mechanism also will allow ranchers to propose predation management projects that benefit wildlife through their Commission representative on the Predator Committee.