Jersey to Open Bear season....

[joe skipp]

After five years of political stonewalling, New Jersey sportsmen are going to be able to go on a bear hunt.

 

On July 21, the Commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Bob Martin, announced his approval of the state’s new Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy.  Part of the management policy will include a six day December black bear hunt that coincides with New Jersey’s firearm deer hunting season.

 

According to Martin, “This science- and fact-based policy recognizes that hunting is an important bear management tool in combination with non-lethal controls of problem bears, public education on coexisting with bears and enforcement of laws to reduce conflicts between bears and people.”

 

The DEP indicated that the bear population has exploded in New Jersey since 1992 from 500 to over 3,400 today.  Also, according to DEP reports, there were 1,261 black bear incidents between January 1 and June 20 this year.  Of those, 76 were considered aggressive incidents.

[Wiley Coyote]

Bear-human encounters sure don't bother the Ontario government. They just stick there collective heads in the sand and ignore facts. There motto is "What I don't see won't bother me!"