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| Wide speculation surrounds the DNR's refusal to recognize Michigan’s resident cougars. Many discussions have occurred around campfires and kitchen tables wondering why. Some say the DNR is just stubborn, out-dated, inept, and ignorant. Some say the DNR has no money to manage endangered cougars and would rather spend the budget on their own salaries. Others say that the DNR planted cougars with insurance company money to reduce the whitetail deer population. Still others say that the DNR truly does believe there are no cougars in Michigan. In my opinion, the reason for the denial is obvious – money. |
| In the 1960s, it was thought that Michigan’s wolf population was expirated. Then, in the 1980s, wolves expanded into the Upper Peninsula on their own. Michigan's lynx population was also thought expirated until a trapper caught one between Trout Lake and Rudyard near St. Ignace in 2004. Now, in 2006, Michigan is reconsidering the existence of Michigan's Lynx. For many years the DNR’s position was that Michigan had no wolf or lynx. Yet when the federal government offered grant monies to investigate the habitat and population of both species, suddenly Michigan had wolf and lynx again. The same situation applies for cougars - they exist on the DNR books only when federal funding is an option. With the passage of Proposal G, politics were supposedly taken out of wildlife management and sound science was to be applied. |
| In 1987 the Department of Natural Resources listed the cougar on the Michigan Endangered Species List. Then, in 1994, the existence of Michigan cougars was further documented in "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in Michigan" by Dr. David Evers, a publication funded by the Nongame Wildlife Fund of the Natural Heritage Program of the DNR and reviewed by no fewer than six active and retired DNR wildlife officials. The book talked about adult cougars AND kittens. Michigan appeared to be well on its way to welcoming home its largest predator. However, things quickly changed after the revival of the Florida panther. |
| The Florida panther was once thought to be expirated, just as the cougar was thought absent from Michigan. Then, in 1973, a small population of panthers were found in Florida, exciting a wildlife movement to re-populate the panther. The State worked cooperatively with the United States Government to develop a panther wildlife management program. The program continues to be successful, but expensive. It is estimated that the State of Florida and the federal government have expended approximately $5+ million since 1981 to bring back the Florida panther. |
| Because of the expense involved with the Florida panther project, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that they would no longer fund any other cougar management program east of the Mississippi. In the 1990s when federal financial support was withdrawn, Michigan’s cougar population began to disappear from DNR literature and discussion. In fact, employees were encouraged to forget any cougar contact, particularly if it involved any hint of a breeding population. |
| The answer to having Michigan's cougar recognized is three-fold. First, collection of hard evidence - film, video, DNA evidence, and ultimately a cat. Eventually a cougar will be hit by a car, caught in a trap, or shot. Let us hope that it is a lactating female that will prove a breeding population. The question begs, how many female/cub pairs must be found to be enough for the DNR to say there is a breeding population – one, two, three, four? For years, the State of Minnesota has been singing the same song as Michigan’s DNR – yes we have them, but there is no resident breeding population. In November, 2001, the Minnesota situation changed dramatically when a wild cougar and her two cubs were located in Minnesota. Instead of declaring a resident cougar population, the State of Minnesota declared the female a released pet and placed her two cubs in the Minneapolis Zoo. Will this be Michigan’s response when female/cub evidence is presented? |
| Second, federal funds must be allocated for state management. All states east of the Mississippi have been affected by lack of federal dollars for cougar research and management. But states won't ask for funding because they're afraid if they recognize the cougar population, they'll be stuck with responsibility and no way to fund it. I believe the State's funding position is clear in the statement of Ray Rustem, DNR Natural Heritage Director, "If we could verify cougars and found there was a small population, what would we do? We might want to do some education like we do with wolves, but I can't do everything for every species. The (endangered species) law says we should be managing them, but I don't have to drop everything to do it. We have staffing, time and budget constraints, so they're not going to be a priority." - Grand Rapids Press, November 26, 2004. |
| Third, if federal and state wildlife agencies cannot cooperate to manage the cougar population, court intervention will be necessary. In fact, a 2003 lawsuit is one of the reasons that Michigan is now readdressing the Lynx population. Let us hope that Michigan's denial doesn't reach the levels of California. In 1986, a five-year old child, Laura Small, was mauled by a cougar, leaving her scarred and partially paralyzed. A jury awarded $2 million to the family and an out-of-court settlement was finally reached at $1.5 million on appeal. While the government traditionally is immune to lawsuit, the jury felt that they failed to adequately warn tourists of potential danger of cougars in the Caspers Wilderness Park. The Federal Government has already taken the appropriate precautions by posting Sleeping Bear Dunes with cougar warning signs. But information provided to citizens by the Michigan DNR is, "The only cougars in Michigan are released pets". This leaves the State of Michigan with a huge liability in the event a person is ever attacked, not to mention the gamble they're taking with taxpayer dollars that would fund the settlement in such a lawsuit. (I suppose they're relying on the statistics that you are more likely to be hit by lightning than attacked by a cougar.) |
| When considering Michigan's largest predator, we must remember that the original purpose of the Endangered Species Act was to force us to protect and preserve wildlife that would normally be pushed aside in light of other priorities. The Endangered Species Act reads, "…encouraging states and other interested parties, through federal financial assistance and a system of incentives, to develop conservation programs meeting national and international standards is a key to meeting international commitments and to safeguarding the nation's heritage in fish, wildlife, and plants." |
| It's time for the DNR to step to the table and make efforts to receive federal funding for cougar management in Michigan. After all, in 2005, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service funded a four-year grant for the Mitchell Satyr butterfly in the amount of $880,000. One has to imagine that if a butterfly gets $880,000, how much money should be allocated to Michigan's largest predator? Perhaps just enough to pay for ink so that the DNR can put the words "existence of resident breeding cougar population in Michigan" in a press release in the year 2006. |
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