Action Alert! Comments needed re NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife Comprehensive Blac�k Bear Management Policy

[Guest guest]

Committee To Abolish Sport Hunting

PO BOX 13815, LAS CRUCES, NM 88013-3815

(575) 640-7372

CASH

 

 

 

April 27, 2010

 

C.A.S.H. Action Alert!

 

-Comments needed on the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife Comprehensive Black

Bear Management Policy-

 

 

 

CONTACT:

Bear Education and Resource Group www.SaveNJBears.com

 

Janet Piszar: hasla1 or 973-315-3219

 

 

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has drafted its “Comprehensive

Black Bear Management Policy†which will rely heavily on hunting as a way to

address black bear activity in parts of New Jersey. A hunt has been set to

commence in December, 2010.

 

The agency is seeking public input on their plan and it is vitally important

that wildlife and public safety advocates make it known that they do not want a

trophy hunt for bears to take place in New Jersey.

 

Comments on the state's Comprehensive Black Bear Management must be submitted to

Fish and Wildlife BEFORE THE JUNE 18, 2010 DEADLINE.

 

The state's bears have never posed a threat to the public and have rarely caused

problems beyond those that could be handled by ordinary property owners. Damage

to private property due to bear activity is less than that done by raccoons, and

most bear contact with the public can be attenuated if people modify the way

they handle and store their trash. Nothing has changed in this regard and a

bear hunt is no more necessary now than it has ever been. This is a trophy hunt

designed to satisfy the wishes of the fewer than one-quarter of one-percent of

the state's population who want to hunt the animals – a tiny special interest

group whose opinions do not mirror those of the public at large.

 

Bears are not a threat to the people of New Jersey and hunting them will be

little more than an opportunity for hunters to hang bear heads on their walls or

to put bear rugs in front of their fireplaces.

 

 

 

Please submit your comments to Larry Herrighty of NJ Fish and Wildlife BEFORE

THE JUNE 18, 2010 DEADLINE.

 

 

Larry Herrighty

CBBMP

Division of Fish and Wildlife

Department of Environmental Protection

P.O. Box 400

Trenton, NJ 08625-0400

 

 

Or submit your comments online to:

http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/bearpolicy10_comment.htm

 

Your letters will show Fish and Wildlife that there is strong public opinion

AGAINST bear hunting.

 

 

Also please attend the Official Public Hearing and speak out against bear

hunting. Send a strong message to the State that we demand the PERMANENT

PROTECTION OF NJ BLACK BEARS. You will have only two or three minutes to speak,

but it is important to be there as the media will be covering this milestone

event. Buses will be scheduled – contact the BEAR group for more details.

 

Public Hearing:

 

Tues., May 11, 6:00 PM

 

NJ State Museum

 

205 W. State Street

 

Trenton, NJ 08625

 

 

CONTACT:

Bear Education and Resource Group www.SaveNJBears.com

 

Janet Piszar: hasla1 or 973-315-3219

 

 

 

SAMPLE LETTER

 

Dear Mr. Herrighty:

 

As someone who is concerned about the responsible treatment if wildlife, I urge

you to remove all mention of hunting or other forms of lethal control on New

Jersey’s black bears from Fish and Wildlife’s Comprehensive Black Bear

Management Policy, as bears are not a public safety threat that needs to be

addressed in a violent and irreversible way.

 

Bears are an integral part of the state’s natural areas and I am one of

millions of citizens who do not want to see them killed by trophy hunters.

I’m urging you, the Fish and Game Council, and the Division of Fish and

Wildlife to edit the Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy to exclude

hunting or any increased killing of bears, as any violence toward these animals

is unnecessary and unethical.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

***********

 

The Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting is a wildlife advocacy organization

dedicated to abolishing the practice of sport hunting through public education

and community involvement. We seek to protect wildlife, the environment, and

the general public from the recklessness of state and federal fish and wildlife

agencies.