At their next meeting, Nebraska Game and Parks commissioners will consider a staff recommendation to create a mountain lion hunting season.

The meeting in Chadron is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Friday at the Chadron State College Student Center Ballroom. Public hearings for regulations regarding mountain lions are scheduled for 8:45 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Officials say mountain lions all but vanished from Nebraska by 1890. The cats have been making a comeback in Nebraska’s northwest corner and have traveled as far east in the state as Omaha. The commission estimates the Pine Ridge area has a population of 22 animals.

The commissioners also will consider recommendations on regulations for antelope, deer and elk hunting and an agreement with the city of Gothenburg to rehabilitate Lake Helen.