http://journalstar.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_721af51a-0ba4-11df-b82f-001cc4c03286.html
JournalStar.com
By NANCY HICKS
Six mountain lions have been shot within 16 miles of Sen. LeRoy Louden’s home in the state’s northwest corner over the past two years, according to local rumors.
But there’s little official proof of the kills, because many farmers and ranchers operate under the “three S system” — shoot, shovel and shut up, said Louden of Ellsworth.
They dispose of the bodies, fearful they might get in trouble for shooting a game animal, he said.
A bill providing for 30-day permits to kill mountain lions preying on livestock would help end the three S’s, Louden said during a Wednesday hearing before the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee.
The bill (LB747) clarifies current policy so people can be sure they are following the law when they shoot a lion to protect livestock, said Sam Wilson with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. The commission supports the bill.
The commission has confirmed the presence of a mountain lion 93 times since they returned to Nebraska in 1991. That’s not 93 different lions because the presence could be the same mountain lion confirmed over and over, he said.
The commission has documented a mountain lion population reproducing in three Pine Ridge counties, Sioux, Dawes and Sheridan. But younger male lions, shooed away from the home territory by a dominant male, could be moving into other counties, he said
The bill assures that farmers and ranchers can target lions preying on livestock, but protects the greater lion population that never threatened a person or livestock, he said.
The permit system also provides more information to the Game and Parks Commission, giving officials a better understanding of the range and the possible growing numbers of the animals, said Pete McClymont, with Nebraska Cattlemen.
“We are not here promoting people in the back of their pickups riding around and killing mountain lions. We want ranchers and farmers to be able to protect their families and their livestock,” he said in support of the bill.