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SCI Stands Up for NJ Bear Hunters

SCI Stands Up For Hunters at NJ Bear Meeting

TUCSON, Ariz., -- SCI represented hunters and sound bear conservation during a crowded Sept. 21 public comment solicitation hearing concerning New Jersey's Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy.

At the hearing held at Rutgers University by New Jersey's Conflict Resolution Board, SCI presented a statement explaining why the state's recommendation for a 2005 black bear season to manage its growing black bear population fulfills the state's legal requirements, and why the proposed hunt serves both as a management tool and a valuable research tool for New Jersey's wildlife biologists.

"New Jersey residents deserve to be safe from the growing bear population in their state, and bruins deserve to live in natural habitats that support viable numbers," said SCI Executive Director Tom Riley. "This Policy is the best chance for these conditions to happen. On behalf of SCI, I urge Commissioner Campbell to make the Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy a reality."

The five-year Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy was ordered by New Jersey's State Supreme Court in 2004 after Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley Campbell halted a proposed six-day hunt in December 2004. The Court ruled there would be no bear hunt until the New Jersey Game and Fish Council established the Policy, effectively upholding Commissioner Campbell's decision. This hearing followed the Policy's creation, and was mandated per state law prior to Commissioner Campbell's upcoming decision whether or not to enact the Policy.

As a result of the halted 2004 hunt, as SCI's statement explained, the state has experienced a marked increase of nuisance bear incidents. Nonetheless, the hearing was heated and contentious, with the anti-bear hunting contingent, which included HSUS, BEAR, Friends of Animals and others, using the meeting to vent their distaste for hunting in general and to taunt and insult hunt supporters, which included the New Jersey Outdoor Congress, the New Jersey Bowhunters Association and other outdoor groups in addition to SCI. In all, some 300 people attended the hearing.

New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection is accepting comments on the Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy until Oct. 6, 2005. To review the Policy and sound off, go online to www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/bearpolicy05.htm. The Board also is receiving comments by mail at Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy Comments, NJ Department of Environmental Protection, PO Box 400, Trenton, NJ 08625-0400.