Mountain lions that have been killing livestock in grazing areas on the Fishlake National Forest have been removed, but the practice of predator control isn't expected to continue any more this year.
The lions were destroyed following the partial lifting of a court order related to a suit that was filed through the appeal process by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. The alliance did not oppose a request to lift a court-ordered ban on predator control so that the specific problem could be treated, however.Deputy Regional Forester Robert Joslin ruled that the predator control program on the Fishlake Forest has insufficient supporting documentation, so forest personnel are re-addressing the issue. Joslin's ruling supports the earlier contention of the Wilderness Alliance.
"We are doing everything we can to reaccess what we need to do and shoring up the document to do what is right," said Fishlake Forest Supervisor Tobias Martinez. He pledged to work with livestock and environmental interests in seeking a satisfactory solution for predator control.
"We are in a period here that the chief of the U.S. Forest Service has discretionary revenue and can continue with partial control," Martinez said. "Then we will have to readdress the deficiency of the document. We are trying to shore it up where it is deficient."
After the reassessment is completed and new proposals are drafted, they will be submitted to the regional forester. Tobias said it would be presumptuous to declare a target date to do that. It could be completed this winter but more likely won't be until next spring before the 1992 grazing season.
It would be impossible to complete documentation before this year's grazing season ends in October, said Ben Black, acting range and wildlife staff officer.
Coyotes are the main predators of livestock on the Fishlake Forest, but mountain lions have been known to raid herds. Two lions were killed and a third one may have been destroyed, Martinez said. Bears can also occasionally become a problem.
Destruction of the cougars was ordered after stockmen on eight grazing allotments reported verified losses. Half of those were serious enough to demand predator control, forest officials said. The lions were removed by trappers of the Animal Damage Control section of the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
"We need to rework our system to where predator control methods are again acceptable," said Andy Godrey, forest land management planner and appeals coordinator. He added that the Forest Service is working with all parties involved to find control methods that are adequate and acceptable that will also conform to guidelines contained in the National Environmental Protection Act.
Use of cyanide-based poisons and shooting from airplanes, which have been among predator control measures used by federal government agencies, led to the court order and decisions by the upper echelon in the Forest Service to reaccess the predator control situation on the Fishlake National Forest.
Officials said the problem with the lions developed after the court stay was ordered. Permission was granted to take control measures within 24 hours of obtaining documentation of livestock losses.
Most of the losses were in the Red Creek and South Water Hollow allotments north of I-70 east of Salina and in the Monument-Glenwood and Hunt's Lake allotments on Monroe Mountain.
Officials concluded that 37 lambs, owned by John Wintch of Manti, were destroyed. They included 29 killed by lions, two by coyotes and six from other causes. Wintch reported 108 lambs were missing from his herd.
"The problem with rogue lions is that they like to go into a herd and play," Black said. "Spooking" is a major part of the problem. One lion killed seven animals and "spooked" the sheep so badly that they ran into town, Black said.
Forest officials emphasized that killing lions and other predators is not a wanton practice and that only animals that are suspected of being involved in documented killings of livestock are destroyed.