Bear hunts in New Jersey

[Bill]

SCI - First For Hunters

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November 16, 2006

 

 

 

No Bear Hunt in New Jersey

As feared, the New Jersey Commissioner of the Department of  Environmental Protection has taken action that, for the time being, cancels the bear hunt scheduled for December 4-9.  As reported in one newspaper account,  "The state's top environmental official said today that she will not support a New Jersey bear hunt this year, a decision that was immediately criticized by hunting groups [including SCI]. DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson rejected the state's black bear management policy, which included the controversial bear hunt, tentatively scheduled for December 4-9. Unless overturned by the courts, Jackson's decision means that there will not be a bear hunt this year."

 

Just last week, in response to a lawsuit filed by SCI and other groups, the DEP and New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife had taken the first step toward implementing the state's 2006 bear hunt by posting a schedule of black bear hunter training sessions.  However, this is expected to stop now that the state has called off the hunt.  SCI, the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs and the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance have filed a lawsuit to force the state to hold a hunt, based on the bear management plan produced last year by the New Jersey Fish & Game Council.  We are considering our options with respect to our ongoing lawsuit and we will continue to keep you posted. (Source: AP)

[Glenn]

Unfortunately, Jersey F&W is currently being run by pure politics.  ‘Richie Rich’ Corzinne – our current governor – has personal opinions and now has the power to inflict them on everyone else in the state.  Ms. Jackson  will not support a bear hunt because she was told not to. For those outside of Jersey who may not know, this man spent over 100 million dollars to become, first, a senator, then governor.  He’s already stated that he doesn’t want a bear hunt scheduled while he’s in office.  He also stated that he has not been shown any scientific proof that a hunt will help alleviate the bear problem.  The news paper articles have the usual ‘the governor, a one time hunter himself’ – this is like saying Hillary is an expert on health care because she was once sick –  as if this makes him any kind of an expert.  The court ordered the creation of a comprehensive management plan for black bear in the state and it was done and approved. 

[Crittercoroner]

F&G isn't run by politics, its being overpowered by it. Corzine ran on a platform against hunting. Hell, he even went so far as to say he thought everyone should by their food from a store, not hunt for it. Goes to show what happens when you follow your unions recommendations on who to vote for. Boy, this really sucks for us.

[duckfeathers]

           We lose. Take 300 bear to the taxidermists at a grand or more each. That's $300,000 dollars of lost business. A mere bag of shells to Corzine. But to the taxidermists of the region that income would really help.

[Crittercoroner]

A grand a piece is cheap, anyone who mounts alot of bears around here is getting 2k to start. Yeah, the income would help, but try getting a bunch of bears skinned along with all the deer that get shot that week. If they really wanted to put a dent in them they would hold the season 2 to 3 weeks before gun week for deer, but then the bow guys would moan about intrusion into their archery rut hunts.