Curbs on Hunting of Mountain Lions Cleared for Ballot

An initiative sponsored by environmentalists that would restrict mountain lion hunting and set aside $30 million annually to protect wildlife habitats was approved Tuesday for the June, 1990, ballot.

Secretary of State March Fong Eu said supporters of the initiative submitted about 425,000 valid signatures. It needed at least 372,178 signatures to make the ballot.

Sponsors of the initiative include Gerald Meral, executive director of the Planning and Conservation League, and Assemblyman Lloyd Connelly (D-Sacramento.)

The proposal would outlaw mountain lion hunting except to protect human life or livestock, and it would require special state-approved permits to kill the animals. It would also bar the use of poison, leg-hold or metal-jawed traps and snares.

Wildlife experts estimate there are between 2,500 and 5,000 mountain lions, also called cougars, in California. In 1972, the Legislature approved a moratorium on mountain lion hunting, but it expired in 1986. Gov. George Deukmejian subsequently vetoed a bill that would have extended the ban.

The state Fish and Game Commission adopted cougar hunt plans for 1986 and 1987, but both were blocked in court. The commission did not try to organize subsequent hunts.

The initiative would take money from the general fund and environmental funds, including the one set up by a voter-approved tobacco tax increase, and shift about $30 million annually to the Wildlife Conservation Board, state and local parks and state-supervised mountain conservancies.

Most of the money would be used to buy lands to protect deer and mountain lions, while the remainder would go to preserve wetlands, bird sanctuaries and open space.

So far, 11 statewide propositions are scheduled to go before voters in June, including one that would increase the state’s gasoline tax to finance billions of dollars worth of highway construction and mass transit programs.