Washington governor overturns plan to expand cougar hunting

By Eric M. Johnson SEATTLE (Reuters) - Washington's governor has overturned a decision by wildlife managers to expand cougar hunting in the Pacific Northwest state, siding with animal rights advocates seeking to protect the solitary felines. In a letter to a prominent animal rights group, Governor Jay Inslee said the Department of Fish and Wildlife abused its power and violated state law by imposing a last-minute, substantial rule change without providing an adequate forum for public input. "Transparency and openness in state government are essential in order to maintain the trust of the public," he wrote to the Humane Society of the United States this week. He also ordered the commission to seek public comment on the matter. The decision, which Inslee's aides and wildlife department officials said was the first such use of executive power by a Washington state governor, follows a months-long policy fight over the future of the elusive big cats. The wrangling pitted animal advocacy groups against state wildlife managers, as well as hunters who say higher kill counts would provide much needed relief to people and livestock in cougar territory. In April, the Department of Fish and Wildlife decided to increase permitted kill quotas to 17-21 percent of the population in 14 management areas largely in the northeast of the state, from 12-16 percent previously. In June, opponents led by the Humane Society of the United States filed a petition against the "dramatic increases," arguing they ignored a 13-year study that found an increase would harm cougar populations. The commission itself has said kill rates in excess of 16 percent can in some cases trigger drops in the number of breeding females and changes to adult male territorial behavior. In August, it voted to deny the Humane Society's petition. The commission said the increased quotas, which were to have applied during the next three years' hunting seasons, would not hurt cougar numbers and were needed to provide relief to people living among predatory species, such as wolves, cougars and bears. The new guidelines, state wildlife biologists estimated, could have increased the annual harvest by 15 to 30 cougars during this year's hunt. Statewide, hunters killed 163 cougars in 2014 out of a population of roughly 3,600. State wildlife officials say they receive hundreds of calls every year reporting sighting of cougars, attacks by the big cats on livestock and pets, and cougar-on-human confrontations. (Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Daniel Wallis)