Federal Court Decision Triggers Cancellation of Wildlife Refuge Mountain Lion Hunt

January 4, 2007

WASHINGTON – The Humane Society of the United States today hailed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to cancel a proposed mountain lion hunt in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. 

The decision came following a letter from The Humane Society of the United States pointing out that the proposed hunt was inconsistent with a recent District of Columbia federal court ruling in The Fund for Animals v. Hall that has called into doubt the manner in which the Fish and Wildlife Service opens wildlife refuges to sport hunting. The decision, issued in August 2006, found that the Fish and Wildlife Service has unlawfully opened and expanded sport hunting at more than three dozen wildlife refuges without adequate environmental review of the cumulative environmental impacts of sport hunting on the broader refuge system, as required by federal law.

"This proposal to hunt a population of five mountain lions was not only biologically reckless, but also contrary to the agency's duty to protect refuge wildlife under federal law," said Jonathan R. Lovvorn, vice president of animal protection litigation for The HSUS and one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs in the case. "We commend the Service for recognizing that the agency's process of opening new refuge hunting programs without any comprehensive environmental review cannot continue in the face of a federal court decision declaring the practice unlawful."

President Theodore Roosevelt, himself an avid hunter, established the first national wildlife refuge to protect pelicans and other birds from plume hunters in 1903. For half a century, refuges were special places where wild animals could have sanctuary from hunting and trapping. Since then, however, more than half of the nation's 545 refuges have been opened to sport hunting.

A General Accounting Office report warned the Fish and Wildlife Service more than a decade ago that many of the agency's own refuge managers have identified hunting as a "harmful use" of the refuge system, and more than half thought that such activities should be discontinued immediately.

The court's published decision in The Fund for Animals v. Hall can be found at 448 F. Supp. 2d 127 (D.D.C. 2006), and is available upon request. The plaintiffs are represented in the case by the public interest law firm Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal and the Animal Protection Litigation section of The HSUS.

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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with nearly 10 million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals, disaster preparedness and response, wildlife and habitat protection, marine mammals, animals in research, equine protection, and farm animal welfare. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy and field work. The nonprofit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives and offices across the country.