As part of a three-year study on the link between mule deer populations and predators, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources will cull mountain lions. Many conservationists and hunters are not happy.
The study launched in December in six wildlife hunt units across the state: Boulder, Monroe, Stansbury, Pine Valley, Wasatch East and Zion. These are areas where predators may be hurting deer populations. The study requires removing as many cougars as possible with any legal method, including trapping.
As deer are the bread and butter of a mountain lion’s diet, the goal is to understand whether mule deer populations are controlled top-down by predators.
“If we reduce that source of mortality, what we should be able to then see is a corresponding increase in these deer populations,” Kent Hersey, the division’s big game projects coordinator, said when explaining the study to a room full of hunters, ranchers and conservationists at a Jan. 8 board meeting.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is working with researchers from Brigham Young University. They are also complying with a 2020 state law that requires management of predator populations when big game populations drop below a certain level. Right now, populations are lower than ideal.
Opposition at various public meetings has been fierce.
One vocal opponent is Denise Peterson, who founded Utah Mountain Lion Conservation to educate people about mountain lions and gather stakeholders.
“The sentiment is, we're already hammering lions hard enough,” Peterson said. “And the Division of Wildlife Resources is not able to manage mountain lions in the way that they need to as biologists and experts, because a law mandates that they do certain things.”
A 2023 law opened cougar hunting all year and removed the requirement for a permit.
While mountain lions are notoriously difficult to count, the division said Utah’s population peaked in 2016 and has been trending lower. Hunting did not immediately spike after the 2023 law, judging by division data through 2024.
Peterson sees the current study as short-sighted. Stakeholders such as houndsmen and outfitters are concerned, as are some deer hunters, who benefit when mountain lions kill off sick deer, keeping herds healthier.
And since hunting is no longer restricted to permit holders, she worries there’s no control group to compare to the wildlife units where the state is cracking down on cougars.
There’s a gap in expertise, so politicians, in her view, shouldn’t be managing mountain lions.
“They don't understand ecosystem function,” she said. “They don't necessarily fully understand the impacts that legislation like this can have on not only the cats, but the entire landscape and all of the wildlife that all of us as Utahns value for whatever reason.”
Hunters who use hounds to track big game spoke up at the Jan. 8 board meeting, as well as the Dec. 16 Regional Area Council meeting. Many worried their dogs would get caught in traps meant for mountain lions. The division is not releasing the locations of traps, but a spokesperson told KUER that trained trappers are doing their best to minimize harm to other animals.
Supporters from the Utah Wool Growers Association and Utah Farm Bureau spoke in favor of the study. Other individuals cited the need for better data. The Utah Wild Sheep Foundation and Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife are funding the study, and the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is listed as a partner.
David Stoner, wildlife specialist with Utah State University Extension, has studied cougars in Utah for more than 20 years. He is not involved in the project, but said the study is standard in wildlife conservation.
The relationship between mountain lion and deer populations depends on factors such as the weather and the availability of food. Since these aren’t lab studies, it can be hard to determine what the relationship is between predator and prey.
“It is a prevailing assumption — I'll call it an assumption, from a scientific standpoint — that predation can limit the growth of mule deer herds or suppress abundance,” Stoner said. “And under certain circumstances, that may be true. In other circumstances, it does not necessarily hold true.”
Utah monitors more than 5,500 deer with GPS collars. Staff are notified when an individual dies and work quickly to identify the cause. In this study, it will be relevant whether a deer was killed by a mountain lion or in another manner.
Stoner isn’t worried that Utah cougar populations will be hunted to zero because the fewer they are, the harder they become to find. While cougars are well-adapted to rugged, remote areas, hunters rely on some level of access.
Part of the controversy is people’s relationships with these animals, he said. One view is that mountain lions are a pest.
“We could also treat it like a valued big game animal, because there are a lot of people, especially in the east, that would pay big dollars to come out for the opportunity to hunt a nice Tom,” he said.
For conservationists who care about mountain lions, like Denise Peterson, they’re something more regal.
“Lions are a pain,” Peterson said with a smile.
They play and trample her camera equipment, but she also has video of a family all cuddled up and grooming each other. She’s watched this family since the pair courted each other, she said.
“They have no interest in, like, causing trouble with people — just cameras,” she said. “And so, you know, they're getting to the age where they're getting ready to take off, and I'm worried about them,” she said, choking up.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
