On September 18, 175 black bears in NJ will be slaughtered by hunters. The only thing that can stop this horrendous hunt from occurring is the "Black Bear Protection Act". This bill, which would ban bear hunting for 5 years and mandate non-lethal reproductive control trials to reduce the bear population, passed the NJ Senate with an astounding 32 to 6 victory.
If this bill is allowed to be voted on by the full Assembly, it too will easily pass. The problem is that Assembly speaker Jack Collins doesn't want it to pass, and he has said so publicly.
"One man has crushed democracy in our
state, and now we are targeting him for protest," states
Stuart Chaifetz, Green Party Candidate for NJ's 4th congressional
district. "This bill has major support from the people
of our state, and the towns that live in bear country. Jack Collins,
though, is facing a tough fight for the Republican nomination
for Governor, and he will sell out all of us for the sake of the
hunter and gun lobby vote. He may win the primary, but if one
bear is killed, we will make sure that he is never Governor."
· More than 60,000 people have signed petitions against the bear hunt.
·In 1971, Fish and Game closed the hunting season on bears because they had been hunted to the point of near extinction. Only 10 animals survived Fish and Game's "management". Black bears are still recovering from this massacre.
·In the entire recorded history of NJ, black bears have neither killed nor seriously harmed anyone.
·Resolutions against the bear hunt have been passed by the towns that have the most bears in our state. This includes West Milford, the bear capital of NJ,and the towns' of Franklin, Ringwoood, Riverdale, Andover, Emerson, Fredon, and the Vernon and Blairstown Environmental Commissions.
30 years ago, NJ's black bears were nearly wiped out due to overhunting.
Now, the NJ Fish and Game Council wants to start the slaughter
again
NJ Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife and the NJ Fish and Game Council
The NJ Division of Fish, Game Wildlife and the NJ Fish and Game
Council have control over all of our wildlife. The Council is
a quasi-legislative board that has the power to decide what animals
can be hunted, the lengths of the hunting seasons, and how many
animals each hunter may kill. All members of the Council are hunters.
The salaries of Fish and Game employees are paid for from the
sale of hunting licenses. They must sell $11,000,000 worth of
licenses just to cover their salaries and benefits. To make this
money, they allow hunters to slaughter more than 1,000,000 animals
each year. The sad truth is that the state agency that should
be protecting wildlife instead profits from their slaughter.·
Fish and Game, in their 'NJ Black Bear Management Plan' (BBMP),
recommends a hunting season for bears. The reason why they want
to allow the killing of bears is written in their BBMP. "Re-establish
a hunting season for black bear to provide recreational opportunity
for the sporting public..."
Bear Hunting Not Necessary
Objective VIII of the BBMP gives the option of protecting bears
and not allowing a hunting season. Patricia McConnel, Fish and
Games' former bear expert, was asked about this at a public hearing
dealing with black bears. She stated that it was "biologically
viable" to not hunt bears and to allow them to control their
own numbers.· Fish and Games' own expert has publicly stated
that hunting is not necessary, yet they have proposed one anyway.
In contrast to an aggressive education campaign, hunting is not an effective approach to resolving human/bear conflicts. Hunting may, in fact, escalate such conflicts. Because of the territorial behavior exhibited by bears, it is biologically impossible for a bear population to overpopulate its habitat. This is one reason why Tom Beck, a black bear expert with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, has stated, "We hunt bears not because we have to, but because we want to."
Why We Need Legislation Against Bear Hunting
Since Fish and Game and the Fish and Game Council have complete
authority over all our wildlife, and are controlled by those who
hunt, or those who are dependent upon hunting, they care little
for what the 99% of the people of our state who do not hunt have
to say. Legislation is the only way to stop them.
Stu Chaifetz
Green Party Candidate
4th Congressional District, NJ
732 899 4202
45 Davos Rd · Brick NJ 08724
www.HonorAndNonViolence.com