I'm Joshua, the Principal Investigator for the GSE Cougar Project. I'm raising funds to study mountain lions in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. The GSE Cougar Project is a collaboration between myself, Utah Mountain Lion Conservation, Felidae Conservation Fund, Utah State University, with input on study design from Panthera. We are permitted for 10 years through the BLM to study cougars and to produce a documentary film. Through this study we plan to use noninvasive sampling (collecting hair and scat and running those through a genomics lab at the Rocky Mountain Research Station) to determine the population density and health of cougars in the GSENM. It's ambitious, it's attainable, and it's long overdue.

The last population study on this region was published in 1984. Recently cougars were stripped of most of their protections in Utah and now see hunting and trapping year round. Without good population data, this pressure could have a significant impact. We hope to move the conservation needle back to science-based management. We're not anti-hunting and we understand the important role houndsman play in the conservation of cougars. We want to understand the health of this population and see it managed wisely so future generations can enjoy a landscape with these elusive predators as a part of it. But we need your help.

The current funding landscape for conservation projects is bleak and highly competitive. Federal funds are largely nonexistent and private funds are stretched thin. We need your help.

So what will your money go to? Your donation will help to fund equipment, lab fees, personnel time in the field, and some travel (we'll be driving a lot). Every dollar matters and every donation makes a difference.

I have over a decade worth of experience in the field doing this exact work. If you'd like to learn more about my pervious study in Montana you can watch the PBS Nature documentary, Willow: Diary of a Mountain Lion here: https://www.pbs.org/video/willow-diary-of-a-mountain-lion-hr8mju/