Proceedings of the Ninth Mountain Lion Workshop - Carnivore ...

Study Areas and Methods
We selected 5 of 18 Idaho Cougar Management DAUs (Fig. 2) for comparisons of
harvest-age and sex-composition. The five areas were selected based on differences in
cougar population trend, hunter access, harvest trends, availability of research data, and
habitat separation (for some units). These areas included: 1) Warren DAU (Units 19A,
20A, 25A, 26, 27,) within and adjacent to the Frank Church Wilderness, 2) Selway DAU
(Units 16A, 17, 19, 20) within the Selway, Frank Church, and Gospel Hump
Wildernesses and adjacent roadless areas, 3) Salmon DAU (Units 21, 21A, 28, 36B)
adjacent to the Frank Church Wilderness, and 4) Pocatello DAU (Units 69, 70, 71, 72,
73, 73A, 74) and 5) Oakley DAU (Units 54, 55, 56, 57). The Pocatello and Oakley
DAUs were in southeast Idaho, separated from the other DAUs by unsuitable cougar
habitat. During the 1980s and 1990s, the Selway DAU and wilderness units of Warren
DAU contained productive, stable cougar populations that were not heavily harvested
(Power 1985, Harris 1991). The Salmon DAU and roaded units of Warren DAU also
supported high cougar populations, but had greater hunter access. The cougar population
trend was increasing in the Salmon DAU and roaded units of the Warren DAU, although
exploitation rates were variable and some populations were partly sustained by
immigration from wilderness cougar populations (Power 1985, Harris 1991). The
Pocatello DAU and Oakley DAU had low numbers of cougars, some marginal habitat,
low harvest rates, and the population trend was increasing (Power 1985, Harris 1991).
Since 1998, Idaho cougar harvest has declined statewide and in most DAUs (Nadeau
2007).
Figure 2. Cougar Data Analysis Units used for Idaho harvest data comparisons: Warren
DAU, Selway DAU, Salmon DAU, Oakley DAU, and Pocatello DAU.
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