2000 Fall - Mountain Lion Foundation

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• PRO T ( T N G ( A o R A s w D E •
he Mountain Lion Foundation and its many supporters
came of age ten years ago with the passage of Proposition
117. The first of its kind-a true citizens' initiative
that qualified for the ballot using only volunteer signature
gatherers-the Mountain Lion Initiative strove to
protect mountain lions in California forever. For the most part,
Proposi tion 117 was successful. Mountai n lions are no longer
legally hunted and $300 million of state funds have been spent
protecting more than 1/2 million acres of important wildlife habitat.
This did not occur without the vigilance and at much cost to
. organization and its individual members.
After all, the ink had hardly dried on Proposition 117 before the
legislature attempted to overturn this protection. The next few years
saw repeated legislative attempts to, at the very least, divelt and
dilute, if not delete the funds needed to acquire habitat essential
for the continual existence of mountain lions in California.
PROPosmON 117
TEN YEARS
AFTER
Let's not forget Proposition 197 where the initiative process was
used by the NRA and other hunting forces to try and accomplish
what could not be achieved through the legislative process-the
renewed killing of these magnificent creatures. But MLF and you
held fast and thwarted their effOlts to roll back the clock.
Now it is time to look beyond our state's borders. Beyond our
accomplishments that only protect a small segment of a diminishing
species. Cougars are still aggressively hunted as trophy
animals in other western states. Even the citizens of Oregon and
Washi ngton was followed California's lead and instituted their
own cougar protections are finding these protection laws overturned
or at risk.
One of MLF's volunteers, Carrol McDonald, who recently moved
to Arizona, called for our help in stopping yet another RA initiative.
This insidious measure purports to simply leave wildlife management
up to the "experts." In fact, it makes changes to the Ari-
continued on page 3

LITTLE CATS
ABOBBIE KALMA BOOK
From domestic housecats to
the rare manul, young readers
will enjoy learning about all the
different cats in the small cat
family. Children will treasure the
brilliant color photos of kittens
and adult cats alike. $5.95
MOUNTAIN LION FOUNDATION
Shopping Mall
MO 'fAIN L10 ACTIVITIES BOOK
BY SA ORA CHISHOLM ROBI SON
Published by the Denver
Museum of Natural History, this
story and activity book is great for
grade levels 3 through 8. Ideal for
educators, group leaders and
parents. $7.95
POSTCARD BOOK
Send your message
across the miles with
this lovely book of
postcards. The book
contains 21
different 5xT' p
photos of
mountain lions by wildlife photographer I
Denver Bryan. Each po tcard also
includes an interesting and unique fact
about the cougar. $7.95
BRONZE KEY CHAIN
De igned xclusively for the
Mountain Lion Foundation, this
stunning bronz key hain with a basrelief
image of a mountain lion not only carries your
ke s but also serves as a constant reminder of why we need to
protect this elu ive cr ature. ,5.95 .
6 Please use the enclosed envelope.
"ADOPT-A-L10 " •
"Adopt-a-lion" is the perfect gift for cougar lovers.
Your symbolic adoption helps ensure the protection of
this magnificent caL. All proceeds will benefit our
educational outreach programs. Your special "adopt"
packet will include the following: 'Welcome' scroll,
personalized certificate suitable for framing, color
photo, mountain lion fact sheets. The adoption is
$25.00. All adoptions are tax-deductible.
BECOME AMEMBER
Join the fight to protect California's wildlife. As a
member of the Mountain Lion Foundation, you will
receive a copy of our quarterly newsletter, MLF Review.
You will also receive legislative and special alert
announcing actions you can take to protect wildlife.
Most of all, you will receive the satisfaction of knowing
that your SUppOlt helps to protect wildlife throughout
California. emberships make great gifts, too!
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MOUNTAIN
l ION
FOUNDATION
Shopping Mall
YEAR 2001 MOUNTAIN LION
CALENDAR
Thanks to people like
you, mountain lions are
guaranteed to survive into
the next millennium.
Celebrate their majestic
beauty with our year 2001
calendar. The stunning
images captured by
wildlife photographer
Denver Bryan will enhance
the days and
months of all who receive
it. $10.95
el'ALK ON UIE WILD SIDE" FA NY PACK' . • -
This eye-catching, multi-pocketed pack is designed with both the outdoor
enthusia t and traveler in mind. Made from heavyweight premium cotton
anvas, its six pockets can carry everything you need for an active day. The
center pouch is perfect for your water bottle or camera lens. $17.95
Prop. 117 cOlllinuedfrom page 3
ditor recently issued a report criticizing both
CDFG and State Parks for the lack of current
- or in many cases "any" - plans for the
management of the public's property.
One egregious example of this lack ofplanning
is a state park campground planned for
placement right smack in the middle of a
mountain lion corridor! We all know that if
this occurs any mountain lions that have the
tenacity to use this wildlife corridor will be
killed in the name of public safety.
Additionally, although Proposition 117 has
stopped the legal hunting of mountain lions
in California, it has not stopped the illegal
killing of these animals. CDFG estimates that
commercial poaching in this state is the second
greatest threat to wildlife aJter habitat
destruction. MLF is working on the problem,
but it is a difficult long-term issue that requires
the mutual cooperation of everyone
from the neighbor who sees the killing to the
local District Attorney willing to prosecute
these criminals to the fullest extent of the law.
Finally, although California's voters overwhelmingly
chose to implement and protect
Proposition 117, there are still a number of
people who are unaware of their role in keeping
themselves, their children and their property
safe while protecting wildlife. Too many
rural residents are causing mountain lions,
bears, and other wild animals to be killed by
CDFG because they choose to attract predators
with their practices of deliberately feeding
wildlife, improperly containing their garbage,
or following the inappropriate practice
of not implementing even the most rudimentary
livestock management and protection
practices while their livelihood (livestock)
roams the countryside. Ignorance as well as
indifference has been deadly to Califomia's
wildlife.
With the perspective of time, it is clear to
us that California's Propo ition 117 was a good
beginning. A solid foundation upon which to
build. It is also a powerful example 01' what
can be accomplished when wildlife upporters
unite. At the same time, Propo ition 117
serves as a con tant reminder that the good
fight is never done. That it take a long time
to change government institution, and how
fragile are the victories, and how et rnal i
the struggle. MLF
Please lise the enclosed envelope. 7

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CALIFORNIA LEGAL ADVOCATES for WILDLIFE
California Legal Advocates for
Wildlife (CLAW) is a legal assistance
program of the Mountain
Lion Foundation. CLAW provides low
cost and pro-bono legal services to
grassroots environmental group seeking
to protect California's wildlife and habitat.
For more infonnation on MLF's CLAW
Program, and its activities visit our
website: http://www.mountainlion.org/
CLA W/clawprogram.htm.
NATOMAS BASI SPECIES WIN IN COURT ­
BUT HABITAT DESTRUCTIO CONTI UES
Like most California cities, Sacramento
is growing. Parts of its northern expansion
plans include residential development
on land that up till now was rice
fields or similar production grain agricultural
land. Prime garter snake and
swainson hawk habitat.
As a precursor to any bulldozers plowing
up the fields, Sacramento was required
to develop the Natomas Basin
Habitat Conservation Plan ( BHCP).
This plan was intended to protect suffici
nt critical wildlife habitat to allow for
the continued survival of both the gaIter
snake and swainson hawk while allowing
development to occur in the region. Unfortunately
that is not what happened.
In 1998, MLF joined with other environmental
groups to challenge the decision
of the .S. Fish & Wildli£ Service
(U FWS), which has final authority over
any Habitat Conservation Plan. MLF argued
that the plan allowed the destruction
of habitat needed for specie listed
by both the state and federal governments
as "threatened," while only requiring developers
to pay a token fee in return.
CORNER
This August, the judge ruled in favor
of MLF's case, invalidati ng the City of
Sacramento's authority to allow developers
to kill endangered species and requiring
the USFWS to complete an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) that would
analyze the effects of habitat destruction
on garter snakes and swainson hawks in
the atomas Basin.
UnfOltunately, the city and local developers
have largely ignored the federal
court's ruling. Sacramento, with USFWS'
knowledge and acquiescence, recently issued
new "guidelines" that would allow
certain development projects-and the
destruction of more wildlife habitat-to
continue.
MLF is protesting the city's actions, but
development continues at breakneck speed.
USFWS HOPS FORWARD BY PROPOSING
RED-LEGGED FROG CRITICAL HABITAT
MLF is not always in opposition to
CDFG and USFWS' efforts to manage or
protect California's wildlife and its habitat.
There are times when we find ourselves
on the same side, and when this
happens it is equally important for us to
publicly support the actions of these
agencIes.
This October, MLF did just that with a
comment letter to the USFWS supporting
their proposal to designate over 5.4
million acres of public and pri vate land
in California as critical habitat for the redlegged
frog.
While the final amount of land that
actually ends up designated as red-legged
frog habitat is sure to be drastically
smaller, MLF believes that this is a great
first step.
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CALIFORNIA DEPARTME T OF FORESTRY
DENIES DUTY TO PROTECT OAK
WOODLANDS
On September 5, 2000, MLF and the
California Oak Foundation filed a joint
lawsuit against the California Department
of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF),
challenging their refusal to perform an
environmental analysis on the impact to
wildlife when oak woodland are converted
to agriculture or urban uses.
California's oak woodlands provide a
wide array of benefits to wildlife and hu.
mans alike: Oak woodlands and forest
provide habitat to insectivorous birds,
which in turn reduce in ect pests in adjacent
agricultural and urban settings;
provide habitat for deer and mountainlions;
provide improved percolation to recharge
local groundwater supplies; regulate
and slow storm runoff from forested
lands; and shade riparian areas, helping
to lower stream temperature, thus protecting
fish and other aquatic wildlife.
nfortunately as pressure for development
and expanded agriculture in the
state increases, California's oak woodlands
are placed increasingly at risk.
Despite CDF's claim that their oversight
extends only to commercial tree
species-such as pine or fir-MLF believes
that their refusal to regulate the
removal of oaks from private lands violates
the Forest Practice Act, which requires
an analysis of the environmental
effects prior to the issuance of any permits
or approvals. We intend to work wit.
the California Oak Foundation to ensure
that California's oak woocUand ,which are
vital mountain lion habitat, have the same
protections a the state's other forests.

•MLF GIVES SAN JOAQUIN CO NTY
NEIGHBORHOOD AN "F"
Last August, MLF's California Legal
Advocates for Wildlife Program, on behalf
of the San Joaquin Audubon Society,
submitted comments to the an Joaquin
County Board of upervisors challenging
a egative Declaration ( ego Dec.) for the
eighborhood "F" Project, a subdivision
within San Joaquin County's newly
planned Mountain House residential community.
The County's issuance of a Neg.
Dec. cleared the way for developers to
tart building despite the obvious environmental
problems that were associated
with the project.
Since the preparation of the project's
Master Environmental Impact Report
(EIR) over six years ago, the Old River,
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and the lower San Joaquin River-which
will receive drainage from the projecthave
been declared impaired by the State
Water Resources Control Board. And, the
steelhead trout, which reside in these
waters, has been listed as threatened under
the federal Endangered Species AcL.
In addition, several upland species, including
the San Joaquin kit fox and the
swainson's hawk would also be adversely
affected by the project.
MLF's comment letter noted several
legal points including the fact that the
California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA) require updates to a project's
Master EIR, if it is more than five years
old, and new information indicates that
the project may not have considered all
·significant environmental impacts.
MLF's ANTI-POACHING GUIDE
Poaching is one of the most important issues facing wild
life today. California's wildlife is being slaughtered on an
alarming scale by a breed of criminal who kills wild animals
illegally for money-the commercial poacher.
The image of a poacher as a poor, uneducated man just trying
to put meat on the table is outdated. While more traditional
forms of poaching persi t-an occasional deer killed
outside of hunting season, or catching a couple offish over the
legal limit-killing wildlife for monetary gain has taken the
carnage to new levels. Skilled, organized, and well-equipped
teams ofcommercial poachers are decimating California' wildfe.
The California Department of Fish and Game estimate
that commercial poaching in the state is the second greatest
threat to our wildlife after habitat destruction.
The problem of poaching in California can be compared to
thr e sides of a pyramid. On one side i the fact that illegal
Despite MLF's effort, the San Joaquin
County Board ofSupervisors approved the
Neighborhood "F" ProjecL. nless legal
action is under taken, building will begin
in the near future. AlLhough MLF and
San Joaquin Audubon could not make
satisfactory arrangements to fund a lawsuit,
Alameda County is challenging San
Joaquin County's decision because of traffic
mitigation issues-and has included
all of the biological claims raised in our
comment letter.
Keith Wagner, MLF's CLAW Program
Director is remaining in contact with both
San Joaquin Audubon and Alameda
County's aLLorneys to assi t, when possible,
with CLAW's comments included
in Alameda County's complaint.
sale and distribution of California's wildlife i extremel lucrative.
Another is the public's perception towards poaching and
its unwillingness to get involved. The third is inconsistency or
lack oflegal knowledge on the part of pro ecutor and judge in
the conviction and sentencing of poachers. It i this last i sue
that MLF is trying to change with the development of its Practitioners'Reference
Guide on Criminal Enforcement of tate and
Federal Wildlife Laws in California.
Due for release next year, this reference guide i de ign d to
be a concise, user-friendly legal tool that con olidate , organizes
and cross-references a confu ing, unwield bod of law.
With practical tip from successful prosecution a e , thi guide
will be instrumental in making it easier for judg sand di tri t
aLLorney's to prosecute, convict and punish" ildlif rim a
well as for wildlife professionals and concerned laypersons to
push for enhanced poaching legislation and enforc m nL. MLF
MLF
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REMEMBER US IN
YOUR WILL
Everyone likes to be remembered [or somethingto
gain a little slice o[ immortality.
That's just human nature.
Here's a way that you can be remembered forever.
As part of your will, make a gift to the Mountain
Lion Foundation to assist in protecting these magnificent
creatures.
We will, in turn, put the funds to work creating
policies that preserve the lives of mountain lions and
other wildlife.
The gift can be made in a number of ways:
MAKING ABEQUEST
In writing or updating your will, you can designate the foundation as a beneficiary and may tipulate
that the amount be used to support the organizations general operations or earmarked for a specific
project or program.
Here is some suggested language:
"The Mountain Lion Foundation is a tax-exempt organization under the federal and California tax
code and is located at 926 J Street, Suite 803, Sacramento, California 95814 (mailing address, Box
1896, Sacramento, CA 95812)."
RESTRICTED CO TRIB TION
The amount of the bequest can be "undesignated," which means the foundation's Board of Directors
will fi nd the best conservation use for the funds.
For such an unrestricted gift, this language is suggested: "I give and bequeath to the Mountain Lion
Foundation (an amount or percentage of the estate)."
PROGRAM CONTRIBUTIO
A bequest can be designated for a special purpose, such as a program Ii ke wildlife education,
litigation, anti-poaching activities or as a contribution to the endowment.
For restricted bequests, this language is suggested: "1 give and bequeath to the Mountain Lion
Foundation (an amount or percentage of the estate) to be used [or the following purposes (add the
purposes)." Please consult with foundation staff to make sure your objectives are feasible and achievable.
ENDOWMENT CONTRIBUTION
Particularly for large gifts, contributions to the foundation's endowment or endowed projects can be
an excellent means of ensuring that the work continues. With an endowment, the gift is invested and
the annual interest used to provide financial upport. Here is some suggested language for these kind
of gifts: "1 give and bequeath to the Mountain Lion Foundation (an amount or percentage of the estate)
to be used for the general endowment or to endow (add specific project or program)." Again, plea
check with staff before making a gift to a specific project or program.
For more information on this or other ways to provide MLF with financial support, you may contact
Tim Dunbar, (916-442-2666, ext. 107) or send an e-mail message to tdunbar@mountainlion.org
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