Murphy Signs Order Stopping Bear Hunt on Only State Lands

Governor Murphy has signed an Executive Order banning bear hunting on state lands, about 700,000 acres. However, this leaves just as much land in county parklands, private lands, water company lands, non-profit lands, and municipal lands where bears can still be hunted on. While running for Governor, Murphy promised to put a moratorium on the bear hunt that was increased under Governor Christie. While this measure still allows hunting, it does make efforts to reduce the number of bears killer by restricting where they can be hunted. The New Jersey Sierra Club continues to advocate for a bear management plan that includes education, science, and public outreach before turning to hunting bears.

“This action is a step in the right direction by prohibiting bear hunting on state lands. With the bear hunt coming up, any effort to reduce the number of bears killed is a good thing. Unfortunately, there’s plenty of private lands for these bears to still be killed on including county parklands, water company lands, non-profit lands and municipal lands. We still need Governor Murphy to keep his commitment to ban the bear hunt completely. We believe that he has the tools to do so in and out of court and that he must protect New Jersey’s bear populations by stopping the hunt altogether,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We want to thank Governor Murphy for taking this important step towards protecting New Jersey’s black bears. However, this Order doesn’t stop the hunt, it just changes where most of the bears will get killed.”

During her testimony at the DEP Senate Budget Hearing earlier this year, DEP Commissioner McCabe did not stick by Governor Murphy’s promise to end the bear hunt. On the contrary, her statements seemed to support keeping the current management plan, including a hunt, in place through 2020. She then went on to support the idea that bear populations have increased in New Jersey.

“We believe that Governor Murphy does have the authority to fully stop the bear hunt in New Jersey and continue to urge him to keep to his commitment and do so. In 2006, Governor Corzine canceled the hunt and it was upheld in court. Murphy should follow Corzine and cancel the hunt. The DEP Commissioner can also do more to reign in the Division of Fish and Wildlife to further limit the hunt. They could settle the court case that currently challenges F&G bear hunting rules. said Jeff Tittel. “We advocated for a full moratorium on bear hunting, but this action will at least help us protect some of our bears, especially after Christie’s open season.”

New Jersey used to spend more than $2 million a year on bear management education, that money has been reduced by 90%. Ten years ago New Jersey had bear wardens whose jobs were to manage bears and educate the public. That program has been eliminated. Now only Conservation Officers do that work and there are 40% less of them then there was ten years ago. They not only have to deal with bears, but other species, poachers, and everything else.

“We will never have a real bear management plan unless we deal with garbage, educate the public about how to live in bear country, and protect their habitat. There needs to be warning signs in bear country with post at all trail heads with Do’s and Don’ts in bear country. We also need to teach people how to bear-proof their property, including the importance of having no garbage at night and bear proof containers. These will do a lot more in managing the bear population than having an unnecessary hunt. Protecting our habitat is another important step towards managing our bear population,” said Jeff Tittel. “Each year, New Jersey loses thousands of acres of land in bear country. The more we build houses in the middle of the woods where bears live, the more conflict we will see between bears and humans.”

According to a report by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife Bear Activity Report, the number of bears in New Jersey from 2009 to 2018 have dropped by 87 percent. Sightings dropped by 83%, and Damage and Nuisance reports dropped by 86% since 2009. Encounters with aggressive bears tied the lowest total since 2010 with two in 2017. This year, however, four were reported through June 20. Bear hunting in the northwest corner of the state is still on track to continue in 2018. The New Jersey Sierra Club believes that without an actual bear management plan that deals with protection of habitats, garbage, and educating people in bear country, the hunt is meaningless.

“The bear hunt was initiated initially to get rid of aggressive and nuisance bears and the numbers show that they have dropped by 86%. The main purpose of the hunt is gone and the number of bears has been decimated from the bear hunts. Since 2010 0ver 4,000 bears have been killed from the hunt, car accidents, and put down because they were aggressive bears. We believe the number of bears in New Jersey is much lower than what the Division of Fish and Wildlife say. The numbers of bears have dropped because there are so fewer bears,” said Jeff Tittel.

New Jersey needs to transition from hunting to a real a real management plan, one that includes strong education and uses warning signs in the region, education materials at trail heads, enforcing not feeding bears, and garbage management. There needs to be warning signs in bear country with post at all trail heads with Do’s and Don’ts in bear country. We also need to teach people how to bear-proof their property, including the importance of having no garbage at night and bear proof containers. These will do a lot more in managing the bear population than having an unnecessary hunt.

“Governor Murphy did the first good thing in stopping hunting on state lands and now he needs to do it on all lands! Instead of a hunt, we need a much better bear education and management program that includes non-lethal tactics. We need to address human-bear interactions by dealing with habitat management and garbage control. Without a real management plan, bears will change from a nuisance bear to an aggressive bear and will be put down. The black bear is a symbol that we still have wild places left in the state and that we haven’t completely given over to sprawl,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The Murphy Administration committed to stopping the bear hunt and instead having a real management plan and we will hold them to that commitment. We’re in a desperate situation with another bear hunt coming up. This action may help save some of our bears, but we’re concerned it won’t be enough.”