N.J. black bear hunt is approved

[Guest guest]

N.J. black

bear hunt is approved by environmental commissioner

By Brian

T. Murray/The Star-Ledger

Matt Rainey/The Star-LedgerTwo

bears were killed during a hunt in 2005 in Sussex County. The first black bear

hunt in five years was approved today by Acting Department of Environmental

Protection Commissioner Bob Martin.

TRENTON -- New Jersey’s new black bear policy, which reinstates a six-day

hunt to deal with the growing bruin population, was approved today by Acting

Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin, almost assuring

the hunt will go forward in December.

The hunt would be the first in five years.

Approval comes a week after the state Fish and Game Council

introduced a new " Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy, " which

concluded non-lethal methods employed during the past four years, while Jon

Corzine was governor, have not been enough to curb a growing number of

conflicts between bears and people living in the northwest corner of the state.

" The council incorporated the latest research and science

into its proposed black bear management policy that shows the population is

sustainable and growing, " Martin said in a statement. " This growth

coincides with an increase in serious bear incidents supporting the need for

population control in addition to continued non-lethal management tools including

public education and outreach. "

More than 3,400 bears roam a portion of the state north of Route

80, Martin said, citing figures based on a 2009 DNA study conducted by East

Stroudsburg University. Martin compared the figure to a 1992 study which estimated

about 500 bruins roamed that area in 1992.

He also cited a 96 percent increase between 2006 and 2009 in the

number of bear conflicts in which the bruins posed what the DEP called an

immediate threat to human safety or caused agricultural damage or property

damage over $500.

The New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club and animal rights

activists, such as the Bear Education and Research Group, however, contend the

state has failed for years to properly fund non-lethal programs, such as bear

wardens who could ensure people contain trash that attracts bears.

" I don’t think the commissioner has had time to adequately

review the information or talk to other organizations who want to see a

non-lethal bear management program in place, " said Jeff Tittel of the

Sierra Club. " We think the state hasn’t properly implemented a bear

plan because they cut the funding and have not managed the garbage. "

Martin contends non-lethal programs, such as monitoring trash,

educating people to coexist with bears and using law enforcement to condition

bears to keep out of residential areas, will continue under the new policy.

But, he said, state conservation officers have inspected more than 4,600

residential properties in bear areas and found 98 percent of the people were in

compliance with garbage management guidelines.

The proposed hunt will be similar to those held in 2003 and 2005,

with hunters using shotgun slugs and muzzleloading rifles and focusing on an

area north of Route 78 and west of Route 287 during a six-day period when

licensed hunters are also pursuing antlered deer in the state.

Gov. Chris Christie, who defeated Corzine in the November

election, has said he supports a hunt.

The policy, under a 2007 state appeals court ruling, must first

be publicly vetted much as an environmental regulation change. It will be

published in the April 19 New Jersey Register, which will start a 60-day public

comment period, including a May 11 public hearing, to be held at 6 p.m., at the

New Jersey State Museum in Trenton.

Under a Supreme Court ruling issued in 2004, the council and the

DEP commissioner must jointly adopt a black bear management policy, and any

provision for a hunt, before a hunt may go forward. Corzine had banned bear

hunts during his term, but Gov. Chris Christies said before taking office that

he favored reinstating the hunt.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/nj_black_bear_hunt_is_approved.html