petition to list southern & central coast mountain lions
Prior to founding the Cougar Conservancy, our Director Korinna Domingo co-led efforts with the Mountain Lion Foundation and the Center for Biological Diversity to list Southern and Central Coast mountain lions under the California Endangered Species Act. In April of 2020, these imperiled populations were granted temporary protected status.
Looking ahead, the Cougar Conservancy will be supporting this listing effort by engaging in the listing process at key intervals, galvanizing public support, building diverse coalitions, and generating supportive media.
Connect with petitioners
Stay up to date with all the latest news. Visit the Center for Biological Diversity's web page.
Getting a spatial understanding of the proposed ESU
Populations Being proposed for consideration
The following sub-populations are being considered:
- Santa Ana Mountain (SAM)
- Santa Monica Mountain (CC-S)
- Eastern Peninsular Range (EPR)
- San Gabriel/ San Bernardino (SGSB)
- Central Coast Central (CC-C)
- Central Coast North (CC-N)
Map Credit: Figure ES-1 from the CESA Petition
CDFW weighed in and gave the green light for consideration
We support the CA Department of Fish & Wildlife's evaluation report & recommendation.
After the California Fish & Game Commission (CFGC) received the CESA petition in June of 2019, the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) prepared a petition evaluation report that included a recommendation on whether the petition contains sufficient scientific information to indicate that the petitioned action may be warranted. CDFW completed their petition evaluation report and recommended that the petition be accepted by the Commission.
We support the CA Fish & Game Commission's decision to accept the petition for consideration.
After receiving CDFW’s petition evaluation report, the Commission decided at a public meeting on April 16, 2020 to accept the petition for consideration.
So what's next?
This listing process continues into 2024
CDFW now begins preparing a peer-reviewed status report on the species that is based on the best scientific information available to CDFW. As a candidate for listing, mountain lions living in the proposed Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) as proposed by petitioners are now a candidate species, and are temporarily afforded the same protections as a state-listed endangered or threatened species.
After CDFW’s status report is complete, the Commission must decide at a public meeting whether the petitioned action is warranted. If the Commission finds that the petitioned action is not warranted, the process ends, and the species will be removed from the list of candidate species. If the Commission finds that the petitioned action is warranted, the species will be added to the list of threatened or endangered species.
Learn more about the listing process on the California Department of Fish & Wildlife web page.
cougars will need your voice
Taking Action
Whether it is testifying at a Commission meeting or sending in letters of support, we will keep you informed on how and when to engage in this historic listing decision.