Fish and Game Council moves forward on NJ bear hunt plan despite some opposition

A management plan which would allow for black bear hunts in New Jersey was unanimously approved Wednesday by the state Fish and Game Council and awaits signatures by the Department of Environmental Protection commissioner and Gov. Phil Murphy.

The telephone meeting, which was open to the public by calling in, was called with just the black bear management policy and necessary changes to the game code on the agenda. By law, the policy goes to DEP Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette for his signature then on to Murphy, who has been opposed to bear hunts in the past, even closing state-owned land to bear hunting.

Last year, the council approved an "emergency rule" to move forward with a four-day hunt in early December but anti-hunt activists went to court and obtained a temporary order which stopped the hunt. The Appellate Division lifted that stay and a shortened hunt was on. That hunt was extended by several days because the target number of bears was not reached.

In late October, Murphy changed his position after negotiations over restrictions eliminated some of his concerns.

NJ bear hunt details

The restrictions, which are part of the new policy, prohibit killing of any bear under 75 pounds live weight or with a cub under that weight; and no hunting within 300 feet of a bait pile.

Bait piles are illegal for bear hunting, but are legal for deer hunting and those seasons overlap the bear hunt dates.

Murphy's executive order - which led to the 2022 season - rescinded his 2018 order that banned bear hunting on state-owned lands.

In 2021, there was no bear hunt season because the bear management policy, which called for a hunt, had expired. The state Supreme Court has ruled that without a management plan in place which calls for a hunt as a management tool, neither the council nor the Division of Fish and Wildlife could approve a hunt.

The 2022 'emergency rule' allowed by the court decision, set a hunt for that year, but also said a new plan needed to be adopted and then approved by the commissioner and governor.

The new plan generally follows previous management plans and recommends the council approve an October archery season and a firearms season which coincides with the six-day firearms deer season when shotguns and muzzleloaders are allowed. No rifles are allowed in most of the state's hunting seasons.

Once the commissioner and governor sign the adoption document, the council can set dates and rules for a hunt and the department can begin selling the necessary permits.

In past years, the bear hunt was only allowed in the northwestern part of the state, which includes all of Sussex and Warren counties and parts of Bergen, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Passaic and Somerset counties. That area is divided into five bear hunt zones and a $2 permit was needed to hunt in any of the zones. The bag limit was one bear.

Opponents of the bear hunt

Among the nearly dozen speakers from the public was Raymond Lesniak, who served in the State Assembly from 1978 to 1983 and in the State Senate from 1983 to January 2018. He has been a leading advocate for animal welfare in the state and is founder of the Lesniak Institute for American Leadership at Kean University.

He said the policy violates Section 3 of the state constitution, which creates the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government. The section also prohibits one of those branches from exercising the powers granted to either of the other.

However, he did not say how the management policy or resulting hunting season violates Section 3.

Among other "anti-hunt/pro-bear" speakers was Janet Pizar who said she represents the "Coalition for Animals" who accused the Fish and Game Council and the Division of Fish and Wildlife of "manipulating Gov. Murphy" and said "there is no science to prove" more bears is a threat.

The latest monthly report presented by DEP to the council shows a nearly one-third drop in complaints by phone to the department this year compared to the Jan. 1 to Aug. 21 reporting period last year.

The report shows every county in New Jersey, except for Camden and Cape May has had at least one black bear complaint this year. In 2022, through Aug. 21, every county had at least one complaint. Camden and Cape May each had one complaint in last year's report.

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The complaints are those made directly to DEP dispatchers and do not include bear complaints made to local police departments, many of which have officers trained by DEP on handling such complaints.

During the public comment period, one woman from Middletown commented that she could count three mounted deer heads on a wall behind one of the councilmembers. She then called bears "residents" of the state and urged the DFW to "trap, neuter and release" black bears to control the population "just as we do with feral cats."

The F&G Council is made up of farmers, sportsmen and citizens, the ratio of which is mandated by the state constitution.

Taylor McFarland, representing the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, said the state needs a "non-lethal plan" and that humans are "encroaching on their land." She said the public needs to be "educated on how to live with them."

A large part of the black bear management policy calls for education and Murphy has increased the amount of money in the department's budget specifically for education and advertising on how to avoid bear-human conflicts.

Elisa Frank of the Humane Society of the United States, called a black bear season a "trophy hunt" and said the state's methods for controlling the population are "outdated."

She called bears' seeking out garbage and other food around homes as "human food extraction" and called for state mandates on "bear-proof trash cans".

"Killing our way out of this problem will not help," she ended.

In a news release sent prior to the council meeting the Sierra Club said, "New Jerseyans feel very strongly in opposing the black bear hunt."

Asked about the statement, spokeswoman Jackie Greger said, "We do not have a poll, however, we have seen the most engagement in the past year on our Black Bear action alerts compared to all others."

She also said that the state must require the use of bear-resistant cans, ban baiting statewide and support bear smart legislation. The Legislature should also provide funds to municipalities to help residents purchase bear-resistant containers.

This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: NJ bear hunt plan approved by state Fish and Game Council