Twenty years ago, California voters passed Proposition 117–the Mountain Lion Initiative. It was also known as the “People’s Initiative” because it was the first statewide initiative in California to qualify for the ballot strictly through the efforts of unpaid volunteers.

Proposition 117:

• Changed the classification of mountain lions in California from game mammals to “Specially Protected Mammals,”

• Banned the practice of killing mountain lions in California for fun, and

• Directed the California State legislature to allocate a minimum of $30 million annually for thirty years towards the acquisition of critical habitat for all of the state’s wildlife.

While some might consider Proposition 117 as a complete reversal of positions–California had been responsible for the greatest number of lions slaughtered in the country (12,461) during its 57-year “Bounty Period”–in fact it was just the culmination of a shifting value system which can be traced back almost eighteen-years earlier when Governor Ronald Regan placed a moratorium on the trophy hunting of lions in California.

When the annual renewal of the moratorium was blocked by the legislature in 1986, concerned activists gathered to form the Mountain Lion Preservation Foundation-the forbearer of MLF–and the fight to save mountain lions was on!

A quote from a San Francisco Chronicle Editorial possibly best expresses the attitude of MLF and many other Californians at that time.

“Few of us in this state have actually seen a mountain lion. But the knowledge they are there, spectral and feral, gives meaning to the remote land we must save.”

Although banning the trophy hunting of mountain lions was in itself a huge accomplishment, Proposition 117 possibly contributed more to ensure the long term survival of lions in California through the habitat acquisition element of the initiative. Mountain lions are a keystone species requiring large tracts of land and dispersal corridors. Without the habitat aspect of Proposition 117, it would have been only a matter of time before irreplaceable mountain lion territory was developed and the species killed off for coming into contact with humans. By ensuring sufficient habitat for lions, Californians were also protecting land for thousands of other species. To date, Prop 117 has protected well over 2 million acres for wildlife in California.

Mountain lions may no longer be killed for fun, but they are still far from safe. Around one hundred cougars are killed every year in California for conflicts with pets and livestock. Most of these encounters could have easily been prevented by the owners bringing their pets indoors at night or securing livestock in covered pens after dark. However, protecting domestic animals is not mandatory and lions continue to pay the price for this oversight.

There is also no requirement for changing animal husbandry practices or limiting the number of lions an individual can have killed for depredation of pets or livestock. While MLF has tried to help repeat-permit-requestors safeguard their animals, this has been a difficult task due to confidentiality restrictions.

The California Department of Fish & Game is the agency responsible for managing the state’s mountain lion population. However, twenty-years after the passage of Proposition 117, they still have not written a management plan or provided adequate guidelines for how to handle lion encounters. For whatever unspoken reason, the Department refuses to officially relocate lions that accidentally wander into populated areas, and as a rule, declines to work with the wildlife rescue organizations trained specifically for such instances. While a few wardens have shown tolerance and allowed lost lions to wander back into wilderness areas, the majority appear to believe that because an encounter with a lion could potentially be dangerous, the cat must be killed.

Although California’s mountain lion legislation is a milestone towards protecting the American lion across the West, it surely does not indicate we have successfully learned to coexist with the species. There still is plenty of work to be done to conserve wild habitat, protect domestic animals, teach people about wildlife, and prevent the unnecessary killing of our American lion.  The fight is far from over.

For more information about mountain lions and their status in your state, visit: www.MountainLion.org

The Nature of Wildworks provides lifetime care for non-releasable wildlife including three mountain lions. Our organization has been a proud partner with the biologists of the National Park Service for many years. Biologists have come to the Wildworks facility to test scent lures on our resident mountain lions. By testing what works in a captive situation, the biologists are more readily able to utilize these lures in wild cat research.

The following events are open to the public; free of charge (some locations may have a fee for parking.)

The Nature of Wildworks will be providing our entertaining and educational presentations at the locations below; the programs are usually an hour in length and encompass information about native species and habitat. We also strive to educate attendees about the need not to disturb nature and wildlife as well as how to safely co-exist with wildlife that may wander into neighborhoods.

CARBON CANYON FIRE SAFE COUNCIL OPEN HOUSE

Saturday, June 12, 2010 ~ 10am to 3pm

Western Hills Park: Carbon Canyon Road at Canon Lane in Chino Hills

This event, sponsored by Hills for Everyone, is open to the public and will be held at the Carbon Canyon Fire Station. The Nature of Wildworks will be bringing many of our native wildlife ambassadors to this event to meet the public and to provide information about native species and California habitat. Our presentation and the meet and greet will be from 11:30am to 1pm. We will also have information regarding our three resident mountain lions.

KIDS CLUB EVENTS

The Commons in Calabasas

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 ~ 6:00 pm

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The Lakes in Thousand Oaks

Wednesday, Aug 25, 2010 ~ 11:00 am

The Nature of Wildworks will be providing our entertaining and educational presentation for a children’s group at the locations listed above. The programs are open to the public and the information will be presented in a format suitable for the younger children.

SUMMER CAMPFIRE PROGRAMS

Leo Carrillo State Park

Saturdays: June 19, July 3 & Aug 14

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Malibu Creek State Park

Saturdays: July 17 & Aug 23

The Nature of Wildworks will provide an entertaining and educational live wildlife program including birds, mammals and reptiles. The event is free and open to the public. (Parking fee may apply) These programs begin at 7:30 pm and are sponsored by the State Parks and the Malibu Creek Docents.

MOUNTAINS RESTORATION TRUST

Discovery Nature Camp

Monday, July 19, 2010 ~ 12:00 pm

Wildworks will provide our animal ambassadors for a program at the Masson House. This program is nature experience for children provided by Mountains Restoration Trust. (Fee for Camp applies)

A DATE WITH NATURE

Saturday, October 9, 2010 ~ 2pm to 6pm

Campo Amantes at Rancho Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano

The Donna O’Neil Land Conservancy is hosting this special event in Orange County with a presentation of Wildworks native species. Please check our website: www.natureofwildworks.org/programs/calendar.html for the exact time of our presentation. After our 1 hour presentation we will be available for up close meet-and-greet. The event will be from 2pm to 6pm and the exact time of the Wildworks presentation will be posted on our website (see above) as we get closer to this event date.

OPERATION BUY BACK THEIR LIVES WITH A LICENSE TO PROTECT

WWW.OreCat.org
PO Box 1183, Jefferson, Oregon 97352
503-743-2318

elderoak1@yahoo.com

OreCat@live.com

Responsible Oregonians For A Sustainable, Safe, and Humane Cougar Management Plan.  Looking ahead we strive to preserve the large predators that are the “Key Corner Stones” to a healthy management of Nature and ultimately how we will eat and live.  Could the loss of cougar in 36 States contributed to the colony collapse of our bees that threatens our food supply?

Oregon Cougar Action Team has been blessed with some of the most forward thinking and compassionate members any organization could hope for.  Individuals with capacity to re-imagine Oregon as a State tolerant of all our once rich biodiversity, bestowing upon our Natural resources the dignity long overdue them in the hopes to revive our once abundant ecosystems.  I hold credit to Mountain Lion Foundation for giving me 1800 hours of training, Professor William Ripple of OSU’s www.LordsOfNature.org research work, and the  innovative thinking of  OreCat members for designing the  program called “Operation Buy Back Their Lives With A License To Protect“.  If you can hold the following vision in your heart and mind, please join us today and use our ideas to create a Bill in your State.  We want you to copy us, we want you to use our ideas.  We want you to save your cougar.  Go to our website:  www.OreCat.org (503-743-2318) to learn more about this program we are promoting here in Oregon.  Join us, help us with funding, or start your own cougar program.  But most of all, support your fellow cougar organizations and unit with Mountain Lion Foundation with the possible goal of putting this great Cat on the endangered list.

Operation Buy Back Their Lives With A License To Protect is an innovate and forward thinking program that contributes not only to the reversal of our current planetary concerns, but contributes to healthy forests, clean air, and repaired watersheds. (see www.LordsOfNature.org and read “The American Hunting Myth”, by Ron Baker.

In Oregon today non-hunting individuals have no representation concerning our wildlife because there is no legal avenue open to influence the direction of policies taken by ODFW by paying them, as a hunter does, to manage uniquely for the interest of those who have paid ODFW to manage Oregon’s resources for their own desires.  If one individual can pay ODFW to kill wildlife, than another individual must have the right to pay ODFW to not kill wildlife.  Members of OreCat re-imagine Oregon ODFW respecting the rights of the none hunting individual who want to participate with the Natural resources that belong to all Oregonians, not an Oregon wildlife management program designed just on the whims of hunters.  With this plan an Oregonian would be able to buy a “license to protect” in order to create a balanced source of income from hunters and non-hunters.  The only element missing in all past approaches was the proposition of a course of income equal or superior to what ODFW gets from hunters.  As an example, licenses could be sold at all the same outlets as licenses to kill = and for the same amount!  Once all is sold, a tally could be made and from the 777 cougars that are property of ALL Oregonians, 500 may be bought back and saved.  Receiving money from non-hunters would curtail ODFW from recruiting more hunters (a really bad carbon imprint in the wilderness), relaxing regulations (a hay day for poachers), giving them more access to land (resulting in more private property damage and trespassing), and so on.  In paying ODFW, there is no doubt that the catastrophic situation for the cougars and other wildlife such as the declining bears and the horrific damage off road vehicles create, lead pollution from hunting ammo, private property damage, livestock killing, animal displacement from all the invasive activity the selling of over 500,000 licenses can cause as well as a huge carbon imprint this kind of killing obsession promotes; will be turned around.  Then those who cherish a living Oregon wildlife and healthy ecosystems would in essence become ODFW’s other “employer.”  For more information, visit www.OreCat.org or www.LordsOfNature.org, or call 503-743-231.   Jayne Miller, Director, OreCat

Levels of carbon dioxide have varied only between 180 and 300 parts per million over the last 800,000 years, until recent decades. The last time the modern atmospheric CO2 level of 387 parts per million was sustained occurred 15-20 million years ago.

The global warming tipping point has typically been defined as temperature increases above 2°C from pre-industrial levels or a 450 parts per million atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases. The year 2050 is the date commonly set by scientists to achieve the GHG emission reductions necessary for climate stabilization. The emission reduction scenario set by California Assembly Bill 32 and Executive Order 5-3-05, whereby emissions are reduced to 1990 levels by 2020 and then to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, is consistent with a GHG stabilization scenario in the +/- 450 ppm range.

California Historical & Projected July Temperature Increases 1961-2099

California’s oak woodlands provide habitat for nearly half of the 632 terrestrial vertebrates found in the state but they are under threat from development and climate change. Acorns are a key resource for 40 different wildlife species such as deer, squirrels, turkeys, jays, quail and bear. Standing dead trees are an important habitat resource in oak woodlands for animals including raptors, bats, salamanders, and lizards. Coarse woody tree material lying on the ground, particularly large logs, are a very important wildlife habitat element because they retain moisture in a relatively dry ecosystem. Oak woodlands near riparian resources like creeks, rivers or lakes support the greatest number of wildlife species.

Based on the latest University of California figures, it has been estimated that since 1990 California has converted 325,000 acres of oak woodlands habitat to non-forest use. The peer-reviewed publication Oaks 2040 found that up to 750,000 acres of oak resources are at risk of conversion by 2040 and calculates that in addition to habitat loss, “up to 33 million tons of sequestered carbon are at risk of entering the atmosphere should development processes eliminate these oak woodlands and forests, and their associated carbon pools.”

A recent scientific study found that, ‘‘California’s native plant species are so vulnerable to global climate change that two-thirds of them could suffer 80 percent reduction in their geographic range by the end of the 21st century.” University of California research examining the effects of California temperature increases on blue and valley oaks “found that the areas of the state where the climate is suitable for these species to grow will shift northward and could shrink to nearly half their current size as a result of global warming.”

Potential modern (light blue and brown) and future (brown and green) distributions of

blue oak and valley oak in California

Thus, the more oak woodlands are converted to non-forest use, the greater the rise in California temperatures and the greater the temperature increases, the faster oaks will disappear from the California landscape. Wildlife species dependent on oak woodlands habitat attributes will have no alternative but to migrate with the oak forests or perish.

California Wildlife Foundation/California Oaks Project

Oakland, CA 94612

www.californiawildlifefoundation.org

www.californiaoaks.org

Things are about to get wild at Effie Yeaw Nature Center!

Peter Gros, co-host of the original Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, along with some of his animal friends will stop by for two appearance on:

Monday,   June 7           8:45-9:15 a.m.    &     9:30-10 a.m.

Mr. Gros will talk with those in attendance about what they can do to protect the natural world and the animals that share it with us. A serval, python, civet, ocelot, ring-tail lemur, fennec fox and a few creepy crawly creatures will help him deliver his message.  Live animals from the Nature Center and some fascinating natural history biofacts will also be on display.

Tickets for this event are $2.50 per person.

For more information, please call (916) 489-4918.

For more information about Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, visit www.wildkingdom.com

Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Ancil Hoffman County Park

(Entrance at California Ave. and Tarshes Drive)

Carmichael, CA 95608