Mountain lions, while considered a species of “Least Concern” overall, remain absent from much of their original range, including the eastern United States.
State wildlife agencies are failing to restore and protect wildlife because they prioritize the wrong objectives, according to a new study in the journal Bioscience. Many keystone species could feasibly return to portions of their historic ranges where they no longer occur, but state wildlife agencies ignore and do not restore them. Overall, agencies are more focused on providing opportunities for hunting, fishing and trapping than on wildlife recovery.
The idea of rewilding – restoring wildlife to strengthen habitat resilience and biodiversity – is gaining traction. Historic and current conservation efforts have primarily focused on species-level extinctions. Geographic range contraction, while frequently overlooked, is a critical aspect of the biodiversity crisis. Mountain lions for example, while not federally threatened or endangered, remain extirpated (locally extinct) across significant areas of their former range. Where present, mountain lions are a keystone species. Since administration of the federal Endangered Species Act currently does nothing to address range contraction, this issue often falls to state wildlife agencies. This presents an obstacle for restoration of native carnivores and other species that hunters do not prioritize but are ecologically important.
An article published in Bioscience demonstrates strong support for rewilding species that are extirpated or locally endangered. The researchers found that the public generally thinks wildlife managers should prioritize wildlife restoration over providing hunting and fishing opportunities. This approach means acknowledging the ecological importance of wildlife (not just utilitarian benefits to humans) and the critical role a species is unable to fulfill in regions where they have become locally extinct due to historical persecution, unregulated hunting, or habitat degradation. Rewilding wildlife like wolves, beavers, bison, and mountain lions would also restore lost ecosystem functions in those places. Americans increasingly favor a more inclusive, ecologically-driven approach to state wildlife management that looks to the future and engages with hunters and non-hunters alike.