Grin and Bear it, Says Judge
When it comes to bear hunting in New Jersey, the fix is in – and it’s the bears that lose.
That’s the argument of former state Sen. Ray Lesniak, of Union County, who was in state superior court Wednesday morning trying to stop a state bear hunt that is scheduled to start Monday.
The judge, Robert Lougy in Trenton, withheld an immediate decision.
Bear hunting is a highly-emotional issue, especially in New Jersey, where until about 20 years ago there were not enough bears in the state to hunt. But now that many of the state’s remaining forests and woodlands have been preserved, the bear population is flourishing. Hunts took place in 2003, 2005 and throughout Chris Christie’s years as governor (2010-2017). Protests against the hunt have been routine over the years with some people getting arrested.
Phil Murphy campaigned against the bear hunt, but his record on the issue has been mixed.
Hunting was originally banned during Murphy’s tenure only on state-owned land and prohibited entirely in 2021. But it returned last year when 114 bears were killed, or to use the more benign term, “harvested.”
Lesniak’s arguments against the hunt comes down to those making the decision.
That would be the state Fish and Game Council, a body within the DEP. This is an 11-member group that includes by law six members – a majority – recommended by the New Jersey Federation of Sportsmen Clubs.
Those members are, by definition, pro-hunting.
So, says Lesniak, how can a council with a built in pro-hunting majority look at a bear hunt objectively? He said the same point would be true if six members of the council were tied to an anti-hunting group like the Humane Society.
Alexandra Horn, a Deputy Attorney General who argued the case for the state, said the council is a bonafide regulatory agency. And despite who makes recommendations, she said members are appointed by the governor with consent of the Senate. Moreover, to stop the hunt would be a “legitimate hardship” for the state’s bear management plan.
How to handle bears in New Jersey is part of the controversy.
Hunting opponents say the answer is common sense. For example, secure your trash cans, don’t leave food lying around your property, and never feed bears. And if you encounter a bear in the woods. let it be. Do not bother it and it will very likely lumber away.
Supporters of a hunt say the population has increased so much that those practices are not enough. Invariably, one hears stories about bears breaking into homes.
Legal challengers to the bear hunt are not new. Lesniak, however, called this a “seminal case,” given the fact he is contesting the constitutionality of the council.
But it also comes down to life and death.
Lesniak asked the court for an injunction stopping the hunt so “these bears are not unnecessarily killed.”
UPDATE
Lesniak is an idiot!!! Go huge a teddy bear!
Hahaha true scientific facts prevail! Have you hugged a bear today? LoL
The issue is these animal rights groupies will never understand true scientific facts. They only base things off of their emotions and nonsense. They care more about a bear than a little child that can be killed by one because bears are taking over residential areas where children play. Plus how many pets and livestock have to die because of their emotions!!!
Let the decisions on game animal management be up to wild life biologists not animal rights extremists. Science and facts trump their lies and emotions. Remember it wasn’t too long ago the leader of this NJ extremist animal rights group accused hunters of raising bears in their basements for the hunting season. They should not be taken seriously.
if they are not hunted, they will be eliminated the way the feral hogs were, poisoning and sterilization. Those are even more unnatural than hunting. we are their predators. The problem will be dealt with either way. The state will not just leave the bears alone when they deal with attacks, and property damage complaints. People are very foolishly assessing the situation on their emotions
It’s not just about emotions or science, or even bears. It’s about who gets to make decisions about wildlife in NJ: a majority of the public, who oppose a bear hunt? or the minority of NJ residents who buy hunting licenses, control the NJ Fish and Game Council, and want a bear hunt? Do you like democracy or not?
I agree but NJ will not do sterilization programs because it’s not cost effective plus we have hundreds of bears migrating in from other states. Staten Island did a deer program and it was like 20 thousand dollars to sterilize each deer. NJ taxpayers cannot foot another bill for millions of dollars. Plus without any reproducing we will have no bears in 10 years. The bear hunt is the best and only option plus it feeds many families. My family actually prefers bear meat over venison. Just don’t harvest dumpster divers because you are what you eat. LoL
Have a good bear season if you bear hunt.
Lesniak will continue to fight to save our bears. Only 5% of NJ residents hunt, while over 85% enjoy state lands for hiking and other non lethal activities according to the recent NJDEP report. The Fish and Wildlife council is a travesty, mostly composed of private hunting club members. NJ residents should have a chance to vote on a hunt.
Only pro-killing emotions are valid.
No one eats bears. Some people just like killing them.
No wonder Jersey is such as POS.
New Jersey has a human population of 9.2 million, and an estimated 3, 000 black bears. Humans outnumber native bears by over 3,000 times! Which species is overpopulated?
> No one eats bears.
Two things. 1. Please educate yourself. 2. You are spreading false information, a tactic of the anti-science, radical animal rights extremists.
Bear meat is eaten, and many people enjoy it. In fact, it is illegal in NJ to kill a bear and waste the meat. See NJ. Admin Code 7:25-5.22 which is known as the Wanton Waste Law, and the Council that Leisnak derides took part in establishing that law! The law states, “The following activities shall be considered the wanton waste of a game animal and are illegal: 1. It is unlawful for any person who kills or wounds any white-tailed deer; black bear; wild turkey; rabbit … squirrel; pheasant … quail, chukar, or Hungarian partridge; ruffed grouse; and all migratory game birds … while engaged in any hunting activities to refuse or neglect to make a reasonable effort to retrieve, retain, or lawfully take into possession such game or wildlife. 2. It is unlawful for any person to take, kill, or capture any game mammal or game bird and remove from the carcass the head, hide, or antlers and leave the edible portions of the carcass and meat to waste”
>”Only 5% of NJ residents hunt, while over 85% enjoy state lands for hiking”…
You infer that 85% are anti-hunting, which is obviously false. Once again, the anti-science, radical animal rights extremists are spreading false information. I have seen no scientific, peer reviewed study that claims that 85% of NJ residents are against hunting or against the bear hunt in particular. Just because a person is a hiker and not a hunter does not imply they are against the bear hunt.
Scientific facts? The fact is – there is no overpopulation. The state does not have reliable data on the true population of bears. THAT is fact. As everyone can see from the comments, this is a trophy hunt by those who wish to kill.
No one eats bears? Every year at the Elks wild game dinner we run out of bear stew. It is delicious ! ! !
these anti’s think that they are wildlife biologists … LOL