The frontier is a memory, but the Western affinity for nature endures. Even when nature is a four-legged package of fur, sinew, claws and teeth that kills pets and livestock and occasionally threatens people. In other words, a cougar.

In 1996, Washington voters showed their fondness for nature and its creatures by passing Initiative 655, which banned the use of hounds in hunting cougars. In a campaign marked by references to fair play and sportsmanship, the measure also prohibited hunters from setting out bait to attract bears within killing range.

As often happens in the real world, a proposal that was sound in the abstract revealed complications in practice. Now, after eight complaint-filled years of encounters between cougars and civilization, state officials are about to experiment with a way to achieve reasonable balance.

For four months beginning Dec. 1, people with appropriate state permits and suitable dogs will be able to go after cougars. That’s going to be a comfort in remote — and a surprising number of not-so-remote — areas where residents sometimes find themselves, their animals and their children in uncomfortable proximity to cougars.

To a limited degree, such situations can be dealt with at present. The Legislature already provided for limited exceptions to the initiative, but houndsmen complain that by the time they’ve navigated the time-consuming regulatory channels, the furtive cats are gone and their trails are cold. Under the new rules, set down by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission, the hunt can be undertaken more quickly and trained dogs can pick up the scent before it disappears and the cats retreat into the hiding places where they’re nearly impossible for human hunters to find.

This is no wholesale abandonment of the 1996 initiative. It’s a pilot program that will operate only in Chelan, Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties and will be evaluated after three years.

When and if 102 cougars are taken in this manner, houndsmen will be allowed only to chase — not kill — troublesome cougars. The chase is thought to have some effect on making cougars avoid populated areas, but that’s not as reassuring to worried residents of northeast Washington as taking them out of commission altogether.

But Washingtonians shouldn’t want wildlife populations wiped out. The fact is that while complaints about cougars have increased since Initiative 655 was passed, the number of cougar takings in the state has remained about the same as it was before the hound ban took effect.

Which raises another concern and underscores the complexity of wildlife management challenges.

At present, cougars usually are killed as a result of chance meetings with hunters — no hounds involved — considerably removed from populated areas. Biologists say those animals tend to be older cats, while the ones that prowl around homes and ranches are more likely to be restless younger males.

It’s been 80 years since a human was killed by a cougar in this state, but as recently as last spring, while Gov. Gary Locke was deciding whether to sign the legislation that allowed the upcoming pilot program, a group of boys near a Colville elementary school were surprised by a cougar who took a swipe at one of them.

The pilot program that begins Dec. 1 will give the state a reasonable chance to see if the Western respect for wildlife and the security of northeast Washingtonians can be brought into balance. It’s worth finding out.