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Committee hears hours of testimony on mountain lion bill; item not moved and is postponed
Summary
House Bill 286, proposing statewide changes to mountain lion hunting seasons and permitting snares/traps, drew extended testimony from hunters, biologists and conservation groups. The committee did not make a motion to advance the bill; the item was recorded as indefinitely postponed for lack of a motion.
Lawmakers heard several hours of testimony and agency analysis on House Bill 286, which would change how Wyoming manages mountain lions and would authorize expanded harvest methods in the name of improving mule deer survival. The committee took public comment from hunters, landowners, conservation groups, and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and did not move the bill forward.
Representative Sandy Schmidt introduced HB286 and said the bill is “as much about mule deer as it is mountain lions,” citing long-term declines in mule deer numbers and proposing new statewide mountain lion season rules, possession tags, and authorization of trapping and snaring. “This is an act relating to mountain lions…requiring annual mountain lion hunting season; prohibiting hunt areas, hunt area mortality limits, statewide mortality limits, bag limits, and hours for taking mountain lions,” Schmidt said while walking members through the bill language and numeric examples.
Representative Steve Harrelson, co-presenting, and…
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