New Jersey Fish and Game Council unanimously votes to reinstate black bear hunt
WEST ORANGE, N.J. -- The hunt will soon be back on in the Garden State.
On Tuesday, the Fish and Game Council unanimously reinstated the New Jersey's controversial black bear hunt, CBS2's Kevin Rincon reported.
Black bear sightings have been on the rise. The Department of Environmental Protection estimates their population could grow to more than 4,000 within the next two years.
Fish and Game has tried to reverse that trend.
"We invested in response, research, outreach, ways controls and enforcement, enforcement of some of our regulations," Assistant Commissioner Dave Golden said.
But that hasn't been enough. so, on Tuesday the Fish and Game Council unanimously approved Gov. Phil Murphy's plan to reinstate a bear hunt starting in December, with some rules.
"No cubs under 75 pounds. No mothers with cubs traveling 75 pounds or under. No baiting. So, we're trying to do this in as responsible way as possible," Murphy said.
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Before the council's vote, there were very few supporters, and a lot of opposition.
"I would like to say thank you to Gov. Murphy and his administration for their courage to look at the scientific facts about the black bear population and allowing the black bear hunt to take place," said Wade Stein, president of the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Club.
"It's shameful that the governor of New Jersey is playing politics with the bear hunt," environmental activist Jeff Tittel said.
"As a lawyer licensed to practice law in the state of New Jersey, I challenge the legitimacy of the Fish and Game Council to take action today," former state Sen. Raymond Lesniak added.
Lesniak said the decision should be left to lawmakers.
The Sierra Club calls the state's efforts in trying to lower the number of bear interactions nothing more than a marketing campaign. It's arguing for things like bear-proof trash cannisters, and more one-on-one education in bear country.
"You have to employ these non-lethal efforts before you go to the last resort, which is killing bears," said Anjuli Ramos, New Jersey director for the Sierra Club.
She said the the DEP's reported increase in bear sightings can be attributed to the pandemic.
"Well, of course you're going to see more bears, and then it decreased significantly in 2021, and that makes sense with people going back to work in their offices," Ramos said.
Murphy, who long campaigned against any bear hunt, said this is about keeping people safe, and acknowledged there could be several hunts down the line.
"There is a so-called 'yield' that they want to achieve in those first number of days. If that is not achieved, then there is another window in December, itself," the governor said.
Back in June, Murphy added $1.5 million into his budget to help control the bear population, but just last week the state's top Republican said that wasn't enough, which is part of what prompted this turnaround.