On September 12, the NJ Fish and Game Council voted 6 to 4
to cancel NJ's black bear hunt.
They did not do this willingly, and they are enraged about
being forced to cancel their prized hunt.
They nearly didn't. There was one swing vote that, after a
two hour closed meeting, finally swung against the hunt. From
what I have been told, it was a 5-5 stand off for some time.
The closeness of the vote, after both the Gov. and Speaker
of the Assembly told them to stop the hunt, shows clearly that
the Council must be disbanded, and a new board, one that puts
science above pleasure killing, be instituted to take our state
into the 21st century.
Now we must move to pass legislation, the Black Bear Protection
Act, which bans bear hunting for 5 years while enacting non-lethal
birth control studies. The bill passed the NJ State Senate by
an astounding 32-6 victory, but has been held up in the Assembly.
For info on what you can do to help, please visit www.SaveNJBears.com