Let trophy hunters pay

Way too much of our tax money is spent paying professional trackers/hunters to use hounds to chase down specific mountain lions that are scaring people and eating their livestock and pets. There is an alternative: Sell permits to trophy hunters to hire those same trackers to chase down those particular lions for the trophy hunters to kill and send to a taxidermist to make into a sofa rug or wall-mounted head. Or (more humane for the cat), find a trophy hunter who is willing to go to the trouble to build a tree stand and sleep in it during the night until a motion sensor awakens her/him and he/she shoots the lion. The result is the same for the lion; the only difference is who pays for it: us through our taxes or the trophy hunter. This will only happen when enough of us complain to our state assemblyperson and state senator and demand that they change the law so specific mountain lions can be hunted for trophies when they cause a problem. Instead of paying a professional tracker/hunter thousands of our tax dollars to hunt down problem lions, California could have an auction for trophy hunters to bid for harvesting tags to kill specific problem lions. From what I hear, these trophy hunters would be willing to pay $2,000 to $20,000 to the state of California, depending on the age, gender and size of the lion, for the opportunity to hang a head on their wall or a rug on their sofa. We need to quit paying for a service that a trophy hunter is willing to PAY US to do. H Gordon Ainsleigh Meadow Vista A request for Kiley I have a simple request for our Rep. Kevin Kiley. Now that Congress has been let out earlier than planned, wouldn't it be a wonderful gesture on your part to hold an in-person town hall? Your constituents have been asking for a personal conversation with you for months. Congress will resume Sept. 2, which gives you and your staff ample time to plan a meeting. I hope you consider it as people have lots of questions. I know I do. Rosalie Wohlfromm Auburn