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GAME PANEL HEARS TESTIMONY ON 2ND NJ BEAR HUNT
Date: 040609
From: http://www.nj.com/
Associated Press, 6/8/04
Trenton - Animal rights activists and other groups expressed
opposition to a second New Jersey black bear hunt, telling the panel
that sets the state's game code they were also waging their fight in
the Legislature.
The Fish and Game Council hearing Tuesday night at the State Museum
drew about 130 people, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported for
Wednesday.
The crowd - opponents and supporters of a hunt - was less than half
the size of last year's, when the game council heard public comment on
what became New Jersey's first bear hunt in three decades.
"We came to show our usual opposition. The real fight is in that
other building down the street," said animal rights activist Stu
Chaifetz, motioning toward the Statehouse.
Animal activists are pushing legislation to ban bear hunting and
revamp the autonomous game council.
One bill proposes adding several animal activists to the 11-member
council and reducing the number of hunters and farmers who now
dominate its makeup.
Last December, 328 bears were killed when the state held its first
bear hunt in 33 years to thin the animals' growing numbers and cut
down the number of encounters between bears and residents in the
northwestern part of the state.
An estimated 500 cubs were born this spring, and wildlife officials
said last year's six-day hunt made only a dent in the potential growth
of New Jersey's bear population.
A spokesman for Gov. James E. McGreevey said the governor personally
opposes to a bear hunt but is uncertain whether a 2004 bear season is
warranted.
DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell, who supported last year's hunt,
has opposed a second hunt, opting for other approaches to curb the
bear population and reduce bear-human encounters.
The game council proposed the 2004 bear hunt in March and is expected
to give final approval this summer. The hunt is tentatively scheduled
for early December.
* * *
Date: 040609
From: http://www.nj.com/
Associated Press, 6/8/04
Trenton - Animal rights activists and other groups expressed
opposition to a second New Jersey black bear hunt, telling the panel
that sets the state's game code they were also waging their fight in
the Legislature.
The Fish and Game Council hearing Tuesday night at the State Museum
drew about 130 people, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported for
Wednesday.
The crowd - opponents and supporters of a hunt - was less than half
the size of last year's, when the game council heard public comment on
what became New Jersey's first bear hunt in three decades.
"We came to show our usual opposition. The real fight is in that
other building down the street," said animal rights activist Stu
Chaifetz, motioning toward the Statehouse.
Animal activists are pushing legislation to ban bear hunting and
revamp the autonomous game council.
One bill proposes adding several animal activists to the 11-member
council and reducing the number of hunters and farmers who now
dominate its makeup.
Last December, 328 bears were killed when the state held its first
bear hunt in 33 years to thin the animals' growing numbers and cut
down the number of encounters between bears and residents in the
northwestern part of the state.
An estimated 500 cubs were born this spring, and wildlife officials
said last year's six-day hunt made only a dent in the potential growth
of New Jersey's bear population.
A spokesman for Gov. James E. McGreevey said the governor personally
opposes to a bear hunt but is uncertain whether a 2004 bear season is
warranted.
DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell, who supported last year's hunt,
has opposed a second hunt, opting for other approaches to curb the
bear population and reduce bear-human encounters.
The game council proposed the 2004 bear hunt in March and is expected
to give final approval this summer. The hunt is tentatively scheduled
for early December.
* * *