Governor Murphy announces 2020 will be the last NJ bear hunt under his watch
He wants less lethal bear management.From NJ.com News
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New Jersey would suspend bear hunting starting in 2021 under a plan announced Monday by Gov. Phil Murphy.
Murphy said during his latest coronavirus briefing in Trenton that the state Fish and Game Council, which in 2015 approved annual bear hunts as part of a 5-year management plan, is considering an amendment that would suspend it upon the conclusion of this year’s hunt.
“This means, drum roll, that the 2020 bear hunt — already limited to a few days in October and December and, pursuant to my 2018 executive order, not permitted on state lands — will be the last bear hunt under my administration,” the governor said.
In response to Murphy’s announcement, longtime Fish and Game Council member Phil Brodhecker said he stands by his support for bear hunting.
“I see absolutely zero possibility of not having a bear hunt, and having an effective bear management plan,” Brodhecker told NJ Advance Media.
“Farmer are seeing more damage this year to their crops than we’ve ever had,” added Brodhecker, a farmer in Sussex County.
The 2020 hunt begins next Monday in parts of Sussex, Morris, Warren, Passaic, Bergen, Hunterdon, Somerset and Mercer counties.
Murphy is a longtime critic of the bear hunt, held annually since 2010, and pledged to end it while running for governor. His executive order in 2018 barred bear hunting in state parks, forests and recreation areas.
“As I have noted in the past, this is a complex issue, and one that my team and Commissioner Catherine McCabe and the Department of Environmental Protection have been looking at carefully in partnership with the New Jersey Fish and Game Council, which actually has the authority over the hunt,” Murphy said.
The Fish and Game Council’s 11 members — two seats are vacant — are appointed by the governor, subject to Senate confirmation.
Suspending the bear hunt, Murphy said, will “allow the Council and Department of Environmental Protection to engage in a thorough and complete review of current scientific data in developing a new black bear policy that promotes public safety and welfare while protecting important wildlife with a focus on non-lethal bear-management techniques.”
“I am grateful to the Fish and Game Council for their commitment to working with the DEP to address this issue and to chart a better way forward,” Murphy said.
Brodhecker was appointed by then-Gov. Chris Christie about nine years ago and said his replacement is awaiting Senate approval.
“I’m all for working on non-lethal methods of bear management, but there’s absolutely no substitute for reducing the population,” Brodhecker said in support of the hunt.
The Fish and Game Council is meeting next week, Brodhecker said.
“I’m sure that’s going to be the topic of discussion,” he said of Murphy’s announcement.
Bear hunting has been a volatile issue in New Jersey, pitting hunters against animal rights activists, and was championed by Christie.
The hunt resumed in New Jersey in 2003 following a moratorium of nearly three decades, instituted after the population neared extinction in the early 1970s.
A total of 315 bears were killed in the 2019 hunt.
New Jersey would suspend bear hunting starting in 2021 under a plan announced Monday by Gov. Phil Murphy.
Murphy said during his latest coronavirus briefing in Trenton that the state Fish and Game Council, which in 2015 approved annual bear hunts as part of a 5-year management plan, is considering an amendment that would suspend it upon the conclusion of this year’s hunt.
“This means, drum roll, that the 2020 bear hunt — already limited to a few days in October and December and, pursuant to my 2018 executive order, not permitted on state lands — will be the last bear hunt under my administration,” the governor said.
In response to Murphy’s announcement, longtime Fish and Game Council member Phil Brodhecker said he stands by his support for bear hunting.
“I see absolutely zero possibility of not having a bear hunt, and having an effective bear management plan,” Brodhecker told NJ Advance Media.
“Farmer are seeing more damage this year to their crops than we’ve ever had,” added Brodhecker, a farmer in Sussex County.
The 2020 hunt begins next Monday in parts of Sussex, Morris, Warren, Passaic, Bergen, Hunterdon, Somerset and Mercer counties.
Murphy is a longtime critic of the bear hunt, held annually since 2010, and pledged to end it while running for governor. His executive order in 2018 barred bear hunting in state parks, forests and recreation areas.
“As I have noted in the past, this is a complex issue, and one that my team and Commissioner Catherine McCabe and the Department of Environmental Protection have been looking at carefully in partnership with the New Jersey Fish and Game Council, which actually has the authority over the hunt,” Murphy said.
The Fish and Game Council’s 11 members — two seats are vacant — are appointed by the governor, subject to Senate confirmation.
Suspending the bear hunt, Murphy said, will “allow the Council and Department of Environmental Protection to engage in a thorough and complete review of current scientific data in developing a new black bear policy that promotes public safety and welfare while protecting important wildlife with a focus on non-lethal bear-management techniques.”
“I am grateful to the Fish and Game Council for their commitment to working with the DEP to address this issue and to chart a better way forward,” Murphy said.
Brodhecker was appointed by then-Gov. Chris Christie about nine years ago and said his replacement is awaiting Senate approval.
“I’m all for working on non-lethal methods of bear management, but there’s absolutely no substitute for reducing the population,” Brodhecker said in support of the hunt.
The Fish and Game Council is meeting next week, Brodhecker said.
“I’m sure that’s going to be the topic of discussion,” he said of Murphy’s announcement.
Bear hunting has been a volatile issue in New Jersey, pitting hunters against animal rights activists, and was championed by Christie.
The hunt resumed in New Jersey in 2003 following a moratorium of nearly three decades, instituted after the population neared extinction in the early 1970s.
A total of 315 bears were killed in the 2019 hunt.
Comments (5)
Why? ...
According to one report, a grizzly sow ran over her own cubs to get away after a dose of pepper spray.
It's been suggested that pepper spray will Stop a great bear attack more Quickly than a rifle meant to stop a charge by African dangerous game (i.e. elephant gun such as .458 Magnum).
The rifle will kill the bear, but perhaps not quickly enough to prevent the bear from killing You.
So
Western states have populations of both great bears & black bears.
Woods savvy locals can differentiate between droppings of great & black bears - Great bear droppings contain little bells ...
Out.