The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is proposing to more than double the number of cougars that can be harvested in the next four years.

The department's predator biologists are recommending an increase from 490 to 1,180 cougars each year. Included in the increase is a jump in female cougar harvests allowed from 126 to 457.

Environmental groups say the harvest increase is unnecessary and not backed by proven science.

Game and Fish commissioners will hear staff recommendations and public comments on changes to the cougar, bear and antelope hunting rules todayin Albuquerque.

Under the proposed cougar harvest, one-fourth of the estimated mountain lion population could be killed. Game staff say the increased cougar hunting quota will still leave a viable and stable population. In addition, department biologist Rick Winslow said, "We know that nowhere near that number will be harvested." Last year, about 200 cougars, half of the harvest limit, were killed. Rarely is the annual cougar quota ever reached.

But the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, Wild Earth Guardians and Animal Protection of New Mexico think the proposed increased will harm the stability of the cougar population. Some of their primary concerns:

• Science behind the decision: Environmental groups say the agency is relying on a four-year unpublished study that has not been peer reviewed to justify increased cougar population estimates. They say the agency is ignoring a 1995 vetted 10-year cougar study in New Mexico by biologist Kenny Logan.

Winslow said the newer four-year study is ongoing and so far mirrors the population numbers estimated in similar habitat in other Western states. He said the staff recommendation also is based on a new population model that matches potential cougar habitat with known cougar kill areas. He said that based on the current model, more than half of the state's terrain qualifies as cougar habitat.

Phil Carter of Animal Protection of New Mexico says the older 10-year cougar study calculates only an 11 percent harvest should occur, not 25 percent as staff is now recommending. Carter said environmentalists believe the commissioners should deny the increased harvest quota and reduce the existing quota.

• Extending rule time: Game and Fish staff want to expand the length of time a new cougar and bear hunting rule will cover to four years from two. They say the expanded time will allow more time to monitor the impacts of a rule change. Environmentalists say it would be better to keep the rule time at two years. "The agency will harm the state's cougars and bears while simultaneously cutting out the public's tongue," Wendy Keefover-Ring, carnivore protection director for Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians, said in a statement.

• Female harvest: Environmentalists also contest the proposed increased hunting of female cougars. "At the same time it proposes high levels of cougar mortality, Game and Fish wants to remove the protective backstop that currently shuts off hunting to protect breeding females and their dependent kittens in each hunting zone," said the Sierra Club's Mary Katherine Ray in a statement. "Breeding females are key to species survival, but heavy exploitation in the form of trophy hunting will kill mother cats and leave orphaned young to starve."

But Winslow said that since 2006, agency staff have been collecting teeth from harvested cougars. Only the first two years of the teeth collected have been analyzed for age and other condition of the killed cats; Winslow said those results show most of the females harvested are three years or younger, not the prime breeding-age females.

Winslow said he recently sent off the teeth from 2008-2009 and the results won't be back immediately. "We're just starting to build a reasonable database," he said.

Cougars, especially males, are wide-ranging and territorial. They are hard to spot and track, even with dogs. Studying and quantifying their numbers has long been a challenge for biologists. And while some biologists say cougar populations recover quickly from harvests, other studies indicate cougars might be a self-regulating population if left alone and not hunted.

Marty Frentzel, spokesman with Game and Fish, said there is an indication that natural balance is upset when people are put in the mix. Predator populations such as cougars might not ebb and flow with the rise and decline of their deer and small-game food supply, especially near urban areas, because they start seeking alternate food sources such as garbage and pets. "Some people think you are really not dealing with a natural system," Frentzel said.

Commissioners will vote on the proposed cougar and bear hunting rules at the September Game Commission meeting.

IF YOU GO

What: New Mexico State Game Commission public meeting to consider changes to cougar, bear and antelope rules

When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. today

Where: Albuquerque Marriott — Grand Ballroom, 2101 Louisiana Blvd., NE