Outdoor News Daily

The New Jersey Fish and Game Council (FGC) is putting the finishing touches on a new bear management policy that would include black bear hunting.

The new management plan is to be heard at the February 9 meeting of the FGC being held at the Central Region Office in the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area in Robbinsville. According to one of its main authors, Council Member Len Wolgast, the plan would allow for a bear hunt to take place this fall.

If passed, the plan must then go to the acting Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for final approval.

In 2006, former DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson, an appointee of then Gov. John Corzine, arbitrarily cancelled the state’s bear hunt. In response, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (USSAF), along with Safari Club International and the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs filed a lawsuit against the state to challenge the former Commissioner’s decision to stop the bear hunt. That November, the state Supreme Court refused to consider an emergency injunction that would have compelled the Commissioner to proceed with the 2006 hunt.

In subsequent years, the DEP continued refusing to authorize a bear hunt despite mounting evidence of increased human-bear interactions and multiple calls by state legislators to bring it back.

“We firmly believe that science should be the foundation of New Jersey’s bear management policy and that’s why we’ve fought so hard to protect the hunt in the past,” said Bud Pidgeon, USSAF president and CEO. “We hope that the Fish and Game Council will recognize the importance of bear hunting as a management tool and reinstate the bear hunt.”

The USSAF recently reported on Assembly Bill 181, which will prohibit the DEP Commissioner from blocking a bear hunt that has been approved by the Council. This bill would help ensure that sound wildlife management principles, not politics, dictate the state’s bear management policy.

Take Action! New Jersey sportsmen are encouraged to attend the Fish and Game Council meeting on February 9th to voice their support for the bear management policy. Those unable to attend Tuesday’s hearing can submit written comments to the FGC at P.O. Box 400, Trenton, NJ 08625.

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