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Congressman
Announces Plan to End Bear Hunting Using Bait
A
Virginia Congressman has announced his intention to pass legislation that
would ban bear hunting using bait on all federal lands.
According to state wildlife officials, baiting is needed to help
control bear populations.
Bear
Hunting Season Approved in New Jersey
(Columbus)
- The New Jersey Fish and Game Council today approved a black bear hunting
season. Support from New
Jersey sportsmen, initiated by calls to action from the U.S. Sportsmen’s
Alliance and other sportsmen’s organizations, encouraged the New Jersey
Fish and Game Council to pass the black bear hunt by a vote of nine to
one.
The
hunt, planned for December 8-13, is needed to help control the rapidly
growing bear population, which is two to three times larger than the
habitat can withstand. Human/bear
incidents and property destruction have increased in recent years to a
level that warranted action by the council.
Animal
rights groups have been working in legislatures across the country to
eliminate various methods of bear hunting.
In Alaska and Maine, the anti-hunters have filed language to
eliminate most bear hunting through ballot initiatives.
But few states have been targeted as often as New Jersey.
“The
dedication and determination of hundreds of sportsmen who attended public
meetings and sent letters to the Fish and Game Council supporting the hunt
have paid off,” said U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Field Director Tony
Celebrezze. “The approval of a black bear hunting season in New Jersey
is a huge victory for sportsmen in a state where the anti-hunting movement
is working overtime to ban all outdoor sports.”
The
state plans to issue up to 10,000 permits to sportsmen who have passed a
course on hunting bears. The
hunt will be held in Sussex, Warren, Passaic and Morris counties in the
area north of Route 78 and west of Route 287.
The Department of Environmental Protection estimates there are
1,300 to 3,200 black bears in New Jersey, mostly in the northwest part of
the state.
During
the current legislative session, anti-hunters introduced bills to prohibit
the opening of a bear season. Assembly
Bill 479 and Senate Bill 1219 would also have provided funding to animal
rights groups to study non-lethal methods of bear control.
Celebrezze
encourages sportsmen to continue to contact their legislators in
opposition to these bills and any other legislation that removes the
jurisdiction of professional biologists from wildlife management
decisions.
The
U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance protects the rights of hunters, anglers and
trappers nationally in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in
Congress and through public education programs.
For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and its
work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website, www.ussportsmen.org.
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