23-04-2025
'Taylen and Wyatt's Law' Passes Committee With Amendments
( — On Tuesday, April 22, the family of the two brothers attacked by a mountain lion in El Dorado County took their grief to the Capitol in support of a Senate bill that could potentially save others from a similar tragedy.
But things didn't go as they'd hoped.
Brothers Taylen and Wyatt Brooks, avid outdoorsmen, were attacked by a mountain lion in broad daylight over a year ago.
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The lion severely injured Wyatt, biting him in the face. The lion then turned to Taylen, lunged at his throat, and dragged him to the ground. The brothers fought for their lives, but deputies ultimately found Taylen deceased.
On Tuesday, surviving brother, Wyatt, and his family took to the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee for another fight, advocating for SB818, otherwise known as 'Taylen and Wyatt's law'.
'This landed on the family like like a nuclear bomb,' Malcolm Brooks, Wyatt and Taylen's Uncle, told reporters. 'It sort of just galvanized us to make sure that what happened to Wyatt and what happened to Taylen is not just something that becomes a footnote in a history book.'
The proposal would establish a pilot program in El Dorado County, allowing houndspersons with an annual hazing permit to use hounds to haze mountain lions. Their goal is to reduce attacks on residents and livestock, all while restoring the apex predator's fear of humans.
Mountain lions are protected under California law, making it illegal to hunt, capture, or kill them.
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Republican State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil (R-Jackson) represents El Dorado County and authored the bill.
'This is not an open season to hunt mountain lions,' Sen. Alvarado-Gil, (R)-Jackson, said. 'This is a step to study the behavior of mountain lions in El Dorado County that has led to a fatal killing of one of our beloved community members.'
Several in attendance supported the proposal, but a notable number also spoke in opposition.
'SB 818 is illegal, ineffective, and runs contrary to the best science of how people and livestock can live safely in El Dorado County,' Sharon Negri, co-founder of Mountain Lion Foundation, said. 'The people of El Dorado County deserve solutions that actually work.'
'We shouldn't be making policy on one incident,' Beth Pratt, California Regional Executive Director for the National Wildlife Federation, tells FOX40. 'We should be making policy to help prevent patterns of incidents where we find scientific solutions that can do that.'
The proposal has passed the committee with big amendments, including the removal of hounding, and instead requires the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to create a broader conflict reduction plan including education, grants for protective measures, and continued research.
The State Senator, Brooks family, and Sheriff of El Dorado County shared frustration.
'The bill, as it was in its original language, was a good bill,' Jeff Leikauf, Sheriff of El Dorado County, says.
'I am ashamed and I am angry today because I stand here with a family who has entrusted their elected leaders to make a decision to save lives, not a decision to save their re-election campaigns,' the Sen. continued.
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