Skip to main content
Go to search page

Mountain lion committee to meet Oct. 12-13 at Lubrecht Forest

Oct 5, 2023 12:03 PM

Citizen committee is discussing management of lions in west-central Montana

GREENOUGH – The west-central Lion Ecoregional Population Objective Committee is convening for its second meeting October 12-13 at Lubrecht Forest near Greenough in the Blackfoot Valley to discuss the management of mountain lions in west-central Montana.

The committee will meet at Lubrecht Experimental Forest (38689 MT-200, Greenough, MT) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. The meeting will also be available to join in online and recorded for viewing afterwards.

The public is invited to participate in the meeting in-person or online. To join online, see the meeting details online at: fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/wc-mountain-lion-workgroup. A time for public comments is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 12 at 4 p.m., but the exact time may vary.

This committee consists of 13 citizens representing a broad spectrum of mountain lion stakeholders who reside within or close to the west-central Montana ecoregion. The committee will ultimately make recommendations that Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks can carry forward to the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission.

The committee will specifically focus on developing recommendations regarding:

  • Target population trend (increase, decrease, stable)
  • Degree of ecoregional population size change (% up or % down)
  • Lion Management Unit (LMU) emphasis (e.g., older-age class harvest, conflict reduction, aid ungulates, more opportunity, or others)

The committee is not charged with recommending season structures, license types, or specific allocation of quotas among Lion Management Units (LMUs).

In 2019, the Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted the Montana Mountain Lion Monitoring and Management Strategy. This strategy outlines the scientific basis for conserving, monitoring, and managing harvest of mountain lions in Montana. An integral part of implementing this new strategy is the formulation of a committee in each of the three western ecoregions.

For more information, visit https://fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/wc-mountain-lion-workgroup.

-fwp-