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| Recognize the cougar as wild, resident, and breeding in Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas. |
| Provide every Department employee with the Department's official position on cougar recognition and procedures. |
| Prosecute poachers and illegal hunting |
| Consider a legally established winter no-kill season for hound hunters. This practice will allow for trained cougar tracking dogs in the event of livestock depradation and/or human attack. Permits should be issued to houndspersons willing to provide data of confirmed tracks and express a willingness to assist in tracking when public safety is at risk. |
| Make no changes in environment and forest management practices - the cats seem to be thriving on their own. |
| Educate the public by providing safety brochures. These can be available at DNR offices and should be forwarded to citizens reporting cougar sightings. |
| Post trail heads, parks, and recreational areas where cougars have been sighted near or around the area. |
| Make a listing of parks, trails, and recreational areas where cougars have been sighted near or around the area available on-line. |
| Prepare policy for capture/relocation when cougars frequent heavily populated areas. |
| Prepare policy for dealing with cougars attacking humans. Policy should include procedures for tracking, capturing, discharging, and examining these particular cats. Tracking services should be available within a four hour window in the event of human attack. |
| Respond to and investigate suspected livestock kills within 48 hours. |
| Work with the Department of Agriculture to ensure reimbursement for livestock kills. |
| Amend the current livestock depradation brochure, "Did a Predator Kill my Livestock?" to include cougars. |
| Prepare policy for capture/relocation or kill permits when a nuisance cougar attacks/kills several livestock. |
| Collect and build a data base of Department cougar sightings and those gathered by local environmental interests. |
| Respond to and investigate sightings that include viable evidence, i.e. tracks, photos, video, scat, etc. |
| Record sightings that do not include other viable evidence and then forward observer a safety brochure. Politely explain the Department's limited manpower when other evidence is not available. |
| Forward all sightings and evidence to a central location where the cats can be studied. |
| Review cougar territory patterns based on reported sightings and seasonal non-lethal hunts. |
| Provide interested public with information about how to collect and preserve evidence for transmittal to the Department for examination. |
| Provide annual one-day training to citizens interested in offering assistance in collecting evidence for research purposes. |
| Lobby the United States Fish and Wildlife Services for research grant funds. |
