LINCOLN — Deer and mountain lions, beware. The Nebraska Legislature is gunning for you.
Lawmakers advanced a bill Thursday aimed at reducing the overpopulation of deer in certain parts of the state.
They also approved an amendment allowing the shooting of mountain lions that are preying on livestock or threatening humans.
State Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh of Omaha said the problems created by an exploding deer population were some of the first brought to him when he became a state senator.
The state's deer population has grown from about 250,000 in 1996 to closer to 380,000 now.
“It's costing our agricultural producers millions, and it's a hazard on the roads,” he said.
Legislative Bill 836 was Lautenbaugh's latest attempt to address those problems.
He said the bill as he introduced it was “admittedly extreme.”
Among its controversial provisions, it would have allowed landowners to “spotlight” deer at night with high-powered flashlights and would have granted them a $25 tax credit for shooting deer.
As advanced by the Natural Resources Committee and given first-round approval by the Legislature, LB 836 would allow the Game and Parks Commission wider latitude to address deer problems.
The revised bill would authorize the commission to extend hunting seasons on an emergency basis to increase the number of deer killed, the main management tool to reduce populations.
Currently, regular deer hunting season is limited to fall and winter, with limits on the number of animals that can be killed.
The extensions would be in addition to special “depredation” deer-hunting seasons allowed in targeted areas.
Under the bill, permit fees from such “depredation seasons” would be used to mitigate damage caused by deer.
The bill would let owners of rural properties of 20 acres or more and members of their immediate family obtain an unlimited number of free permits to control antlerless deer on their own land.
The permits could be used only during the deer depredation seasons, under the legislation.
Several senators gave personal testimony about why the bill is needed.
The seven drivers in Sen. Mark Christensen's family hit 32 deer during the past year, the Imperial senator said.
Sen. Kathy Campbell of Lincoln, whose husband's family owns Campbell's nursery, said deer killed 60 nursery stock trees a night during this winter.
Others told of personal encounters with mountain lions.
Sen. Cap Dierks of Ewing told of seeing a big cat near his home. Later, another one, or perhaps the same one, sat and watched a haying crew at work, he said.
Sen. John Wightman of Lexington said cubs had been seen not far from the canal where he often walks.
“Since I may be the prey, I have a particular interest in this,” he said of the mountain lion amendment.
The amendment incorporates the provisions of LB 747, introduced by Sen. LeRoy Louden of Ellsworth.
It would allow farmers and ranchers to get 30-day permits to kill mountain lions preying on their livestock or poultry. The amendment also would let landowners kill mountain lions immediately, without a permit, if the animals were in the act of stalking or attacking people or livestock.
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