I had heard the DEP did this in the early 80's but I was skeptical. August 4th 1981
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The New York Times
July 12, 1981, Sunday, Late City Final Edition
PLAN TO RETURN THE BLACK BEAR TO JERSEY PROVOKES A DISPUTE
BYLINE: By DONALD JANSON
SECTION: Section 1; Part 2; Page 36, Column 3; Metropolitan Desk
LENGTH: 1038 words
With a million acres of pineland in southern New Jersey newly protected by state and Federal legislation from undue encroachment by civilization, the state's Bureau of Wildlife Management decided the time had come to restore the black bear, which had been abundant until the last century, to its native pineland habitat.
In May, the bureau presented a study of the plan's impact to the state's Fish and Game Council, an 11-member body dominated by sportsmen, and got approval to pursue it with the State Department of Agriculture and other agencies that might be affected.
But now the return of the black bear to the New Jersey Pine Barrens after an absence of 75 years has been put off for a year - or forever, if farmers, beekeepers and campground owners have anything to say about it.
The bureau invited the Secretary of Agriculture, Phillip Alampi, and leaders of the 950-member New Jersey State Beekeepers Association to meet with its wildlife experts to discuss the plan in Trenton. But it already knew the officials were cool toward the proposal. They had said so in letters to the bureau and in public statements.
A Question of Proximity
''I am unalterably opposed to it,'' Mr. Alampi said in an interview. ''There are few bears in the mountains of northwestern New Jersey, but that's a different story. In the Pinelands, the bears would never be far from towns and people, particularly with the tremendous influx of population around Atlantic City since casinos came in. There is no question they would gravitate toward food. Garbage would be torn up and scattered. They could pose a hazard to automobile traffic and to hikers, campers and other visitors to the Pinelands.''
Mr. Alampi said he was particularly concerned that the bears would forage through the Pinelands' 8,000 acres of blueberries and 3,000 acres of cranberries. Besides damaging berry crops, he said, they would go after the 10,000 colonies of honeybees that growers rent from beekeepers to pollinate their crops.
George P. Howard, chief of the wildlife bureau, whose work is supported by fees for hunting and fishing licenses, said black bears are shy, nocturnal creatures that do not bother people who do not try to feed them. He said that the threat to crops and hives was exaggerated and that he would try to change the minds of opponents of the plan.
But, he said, there is another problem - there is no immediate source of bears to import. Pennsylvania and New York have some 4,500 each. Both states have bear-hunting seasons, though, and might be reluctant to cut their numbers to give New Jersey some.
June Best for Moves
Mr. Howard said both states had been approached. He said that Pennsylvania wildlife biologists were willing to capture a few sows and cubs for New Jersey, but that the idea had not cleared channels in Harrisburg.
''With June gone now,'' he said, referring to the best month to move the bears, ''we're probably talking next year for a start on the program.''
Opponents do not want to talk about next year or any other year. ''They want to build a pineland population of 150 bears near where all the blueberries and cranberries are pollinated,'' said Jacob C. Matthenius, state apiarist in the Department of Agriculture. ''Male bears can wander 125 miles in mating season. The bears pull the honeycomb right out of the beehives and eat the bees along with the honey.''
''They smash everything to smithereens,'' said Elizabeth Rodrigues, secretary-treasurer of the beekeepers' association, ''then go on to the blueberries. Nobody can tell the bears to eat only wild berries and leave the cultivated ones alone.''
A Changed Habitat
''They plan to install them on state lands,'' said Stephen Lee of Chatsworth, a blueberry and cranberry grower. ''But there is no practical way to keep them there. Bears don't read signs. It might be nice to reintroduce species to their natural habitat, but the habitat has changed from 75 years ago. Now it has thousands of acres of cranberries and blueberries.''
Mr. Howard agreed that ''there is no guarantee that they wouldn't wander off state land.'' ''The bears make the final decision as to where they will set up housekeeping,'' he said. ''There's miles and miles of blueberries they'll probably feed on.'' But he said the bureau could trap and remove any that did. He added, however, that no provision had been made for paying for crop damage.
''The program could mean a bear-hunting season in New Jersey,'' said Cole Gibbs, president of the 40,000-member State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs. ''That would be the purpose of putting them in there. It's going to be a lot of fun.''
Other Reintroductions
He noted that last spring New Jersey had had its first hunting season on wild turkeys since the turn of the century. The wildlife bureau reintroduced turkeys five years ago, followed by reintroduction of bobcats, both species having been obtained from other states.
Mr. Howard said that the opposition to bobcats had been just as vocal as to the bears, but that opponents had been persuaded that their fears were exaggerated. He said he hoped the same would be true regarding bears.
But Joan Purpuri, owner of the Wading Pine campground just outside the Wharton State Forest, where some of the animals would go, was not convinced that the program could ever become tolerable. ''People would be afraid to come to a campground,'' she said
''The bears would take food right off the picnic tables and out of the garbage cans,'' said Mr. Matthenius of the Department of Agriculture. ''If people ever got between a sow and her cubs, they would be in trouble.''
William Haines Sr., who has 200 acres in blueberries and 800 in cranberries in the Pinelands, suggested a direct approach. ''We can deal with the situation if it comes,'' he said. ''Bear meat is just as good as venison for dinner.''
July 12, 1981, Sunday, Late City Final Edition
PLAN TO RETURN THE BLACK BEAR TO JERSEY PROVOKES A DISPUTE
BYLINE: By DONALD JANSON
SECTION: Section 1; Part 2; Page 36, Column 3; Metropolitan Desk
LENGTH: 1038 words
With a million acres of pineland in southern New Jersey newly protected by state and Federal legislation from undue encroachment by civilization, the state's Bureau of Wildlife Management decided the time had come to restore the black bear, which had been abundant until the last century, to its native pineland habitat.
In May, the bureau presented a study of the plan's impact to the state's Fish and Game Council, an 11-member body dominated by sportsmen, and got approval to pursue it with the State Department of Agriculture and other agencies that might be affected.
But now the return of the black bear to the New Jersey Pine Barrens after an absence of 75 years has been put off for a year - or forever, if farmers, beekeepers and campground owners have anything to say about it.
The bureau invited the Secretary of Agriculture, Phillip Alampi, and leaders of the 950-member New Jersey State Beekeepers Association to meet with its wildlife experts to discuss the plan in Trenton. But it already knew the officials were cool toward the proposal. They had said so in letters to the bureau and in public statements.
A Question of Proximity
''I am unalterably opposed to it,'' Mr. Alampi said in an interview. ''There are few bears in the mountains of northwestern New Jersey, but that's a different story. In the Pinelands, the bears would never be far from towns and people, particularly with the tremendous influx of population around Atlantic City since casinos came in. There is no question they would gravitate toward food. Garbage would be torn up and scattered. They could pose a hazard to automobile traffic and to hikers, campers and other visitors to the Pinelands.''
Mr. Alampi said he was particularly concerned that the bears would forage through the Pinelands' 8,000 acres of blueberries and 3,000 acres of cranberries. Besides damaging berry crops, he said, they would go after the 10,000 colonies of honeybees that growers rent from beekeepers to pollinate their crops.
George P. Howard, chief of the wildlife bureau, whose work is supported by fees for hunting and fishing licenses, said black bears are shy, nocturnal creatures that do not bother people who do not try to feed them. He said that the threat to crops and hives was exaggerated and that he would try to change the minds of opponents of the plan.
But, he said, there is another problem - there is no immediate source of bears to import. Pennsylvania and New York have some 4,500 each. Both states have bear-hunting seasons, though, and might be reluctant to cut their numbers to give New Jersey some.
June Best for Moves
Mr. Howard said both states had been approached. He said that Pennsylvania wildlife biologists were willing to capture a few sows and cubs for New Jersey, but that the idea had not cleared channels in Harrisburg.
''With June gone now,'' he said, referring to the best month to move the bears, ''we're probably talking next year for a start on the program.''
Opponents do not want to talk about next year or any other year. ''They want to build a pineland population of 150 bears near where all the blueberries and cranberries are pollinated,'' said Jacob C. Matthenius, state apiarist in the Department of Agriculture. ''Male bears can wander 125 miles in mating season. The bears pull the honeycomb right out of the beehives and eat the bees along with the honey.''
''They smash everything to smithereens,'' said Elizabeth Rodrigues, secretary-treasurer of the beekeepers' association, ''then go on to the blueberries. Nobody can tell the bears to eat only wild berries and leave the cultivated ones alone.''
A Changed Habitat
''They plan to install them on state lands,'' said Stephen Lee of Chatsworth, a blueberry and cranberry grower. ''But there is no practical way to keep them there. Bears don't read signs. It might be nice to reintroduce species to their natural habitat, but the habitat has changed from 75 years ago. Now it has thousands of acres of cranberries and blueberries.''
Mr. Howard agreed that ''there is no guarantee that they wouldn't wander off state land.'' ''The bears make the final decision as to where they will set up housekeeping,'' he said. ''There's miles and miles of blueberries they'll probably feed on.'' But he said the bureau could trap and remove any that did. He added, however, that no provision had been made for paying for crop damage.
''The program could mean a bear-hunting season in New Jersey,'' said Cole Gibbs, president of the 40,000-member State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs. ''That would be the purpose of putting them in there. It's going to be a lot of fun.''
Other Reintroductions
He noted that last spring New Jersey had had its first hunting season on wild turkeys since the turn of the century. The wildlife bureau reintroduced turkeys five years ago, followed by reintroduction of bobcats, both species having been obtained from other states.
Mr. Howard said that the opposition to bobcats had been just as vocal as to the bears, but that opponents had been persuaded that their fears were exaggerated. He said he hoped the same would be true regarding bears.
But Joan Purpuri, owner of the Wading Pine campground just outside the Wharton State Forest, where some of the animals would go, was not convinced that the program could ever become tolerable. ''People would be afraid to come to a campground,'' she said
''The bears would take food right off the picnic tables and out of the garbage cans,'' said Mr. Matthenius of the Department of Agriculture. ''If people ever got between a sow and her cubs, they would be in trouble.''
William Haines Sr., who has 200 acres in blueberries and 800 in cranberries in the Pinelands, suggested a direct approach. ''We can deal with the situation if it comes,'' he said. ''Bear meat is just as good as venison for dinner.''