Sportsmen’s rights and scientific wildlife management are again under fire in New Jersey.  Anti-hunters have introduced a bill that would ban bear hunting, fund the animal rights agenda and strip the wildlife agency of its management authority.

On Jan. 10, Assemblyman Michael Panter, D-Red Bank, introduced AB 525.  The bill would take away the Fish and Game Commission and Department of Environmental Protection’s authority to regulate bear hunting. Bear management would instead be placed in the hands of a Black Bear Study Commission, which would be appointed by the governor with reserved seats for anti-hunting and environmental groups including the Humane Society of the United States.  There are no reserved seats for sportsmen.

The commission would be given $10,000 of taxpayer money to waste on the examination of costly, ineffective, non-lethal bear controls.  It would also be mandated to create a black bear stamp program to pay for damages caused by the state’s overabundant black bear population.

“Efforts to ban bear hunting in New Jersey have been relentless,” said Tony Celebrezze, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance director of state services.  “For more than 10 years, anti’s have been trying to pass legislation similar to Assembly Bill 525 to eliminate hunting as a bear management tool, and the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance has worked with New Jersey sportsmen to defeat each and every bill.”

In 2003, when the state approved its first bear hunt in over 30 years, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund (SLDF) battled anti-hunters’ legal challenges to stop the bear hunt.  The SLDF has been in court each year since to protect the hunt.

Assembly Bill 525 awaits a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Environment and Solid Waste.

Take action!  New Jersey sportsmen should ask their state assembly members to oppose AB 525.  Explain that legal bear hunting is the only reliable, cost-effective tool to manage the state’s bear population. Other control measures fail to address the overpopulation issue.  To contact your state assemblyman, call or use the Legislative Action Center at www.ussportsmen.org.