ACT NOW! **NJ Bear Hunt Was Rejected...Now Hunting Groups Are Suing**

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Please CROSS POST!! Why kill the bears when there are alternatives!??? Fri, 24 Nov 2006 09:06:08 -0800 (PST)Patricia Breen breen_patricia ACT NOW! **NJ Bear Hunt Was Rejected...Now Hunting Groups Are Suing** The NJ bear hunt was cancelled, but now there's a lawsuit! It's truly amazing what lengths hunters will go to to kill innocent animals. They drool at the mouth like no other when hunting season approaches. Original win...see BEAR Education And Resource Group's news: http://www.savenjbears.com/ 1) Please WRITE a NOTE of SUPPORT or CALL both Commissioner Lisa Jackson and Governor Jon Corzine -- details are in the link above 2) Please WRITE LETTERS to the EDITOR re: BACKLASH -- Resources are in the link above "Hunting groups push for black bear hunt, state defends ban" LETTER TO THE EDITOR: letters (AT) newsday (DOT) com (@newsday.com) http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--bearhunt1121nov21,0,1436301.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey By REBECCA SANTANAAssociated Press WriterNovember 21, 2006, 9:11 PM EST HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Groups in favor of a black bear hunt argued in court Tuesday that the state environmental protection commissioner overstepped her authority in scrapping the hunt. New Jersey officials meanwhile said it is up to the commissioner to set environmental policy. Approved last year by the outgoing environmental protection commissioner, the hunt for black bears _ which increasingly have come into contact with people in New Jersey _ had been set for Dec. 4-9. But last week, Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson rejected the state's black bear management policy, which included the controversial hunt. Unless overturned by the courts, Jackson's decision means that there will not be a bear hunt this year. A December hunt would be the third in four years. During last

year's hunt, which was a magnet for anti-hunting protesters, 298 bruins were killed. In rejecting this year's hunt, Jackson said the state should first focus its attention on non-lethal methods of dealing with the bears, such as educating the public on how to dispose of garbage so it won't attract the bruins. Hunting groups have gone to court to challenge Jackson's decision. In a hearing Tuesday held in an appellate court in Hackensack, lawyers for the groups argued that the commissioner didn't have the power to reject the black bear management policy _ and the hunt. They argued that the policy had already gone through extensive public review last year before it was approved by then-DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell, and that Jackson had denied the public the right to comment by making the decision herself. "She's circumvented the restrictions on her authority," said Anna Seidman, a lawyer for Safari Club International, one of three groups _ along with the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance Foundation and the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs _ pushing for the hunt. The hunting groups have argued that a hunt is the only way to control the bruins' numbers. They've said that Jackson and Gov. Jon S. Corzine are stopping the hunt because it goes against their own personal beliefs and not because of any firm scientific reasoning. The governor has indicated publicly that he would prefer non-lethal methods of controlling the bear population. "She ignored the scientific input," Seidman argued Tuesday, saying that statistics show that bear-related nuisance complaints have gone down following previous hunts. Seidman also pointed out the results of a recent study that was commissioned by the previous administration showing that using birth

control on bears would have little success in controlling the bears' numbers. But lawyers for the state argued that Jackson was well within her rights to review the policy from a previous administration. "The commissioner ... has the clear authority to set the state's overarching environmental policy," said Deputy Attorney General Dean Jablonski. He added that the commissioner had made it clear that she wanted to work with the Fish and Game Council _ which crafted the original policy including the hunt _ to develop a new plan. The three-judge panel did not indicate when they would make their decision, but said that they understood the time-sensitive nature of the issue. If the hunt goes forward on the originally scheduled date, it would begin in just over two weeks. The judges did ask both sides whether there was any reason why the hunt could not be delayed while the court reviewed the issue, but gave no indication about

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