The West-central Lion Ecoregional Population Objective Committee (WC LEPOC), will advise the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission on management of the west-central mountain lion ecoregional population. The committee will recommend population trend, size and sex-age composition at the end of the next five years to address lion population sustainability at a target level that maximizes public satisfaction related to lion hunter opportunity, lion conflict and ungulate population trends.
The WC LEPOC consists of 12 citizens representing a broad spectrum of mountain lion stakeholders. The committee will meet for in-person meetings Aug. 15-16 and Oct. 12-13 to deliberate on the issues and make recommendations that FWP can carry forward to the Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The committee completed its work with a final report that was submitted to the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission.
West-Central Lion Ecoregional Population Objective Committee | Winter 2023
In 2019, the Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted the new Mountain Lion Monitoring and Management Strategy. This strategy outlines the scientific basis for conserving, monitoring and managing harvest of mountain lions in Montana.
An integral part of implementing this strategy is the formulation of a committee in each of the three western ecoregions. The Northwest Lion Ecoregional Population Objective Committee was the first to convene.