Post by 4Pointer on Dec 3, 2010 16:22:56 GMT -5
Antis Sue to Stop New Jersey Bear Hunt
12/3/10
Earlier this week, the Bear Education and Resource Group and the Animal Protection League of New Jersey filed a lawsuit in two New Jersey Superior Courts seeking to shut down the state’s upcoming bear hunt. The lawsuit alleges that the state’s bear management plan, which includes a hunt, was based on flawed science and that the state did not follow proper technical procedures when adopting the plan.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin denying a request by the groups to postpone the hunt. The six day hunt is set to open on Monday, December 6th.
In denying the request, Martin acknowledged that the bear hunt “is an important and necessary part of the state’s comprehensive approach to the management of its black bear population.”
“We hope that the court will see this lawsuit for what it really is…a last ditch anti-hunting effort that undermines the state’s science based management plan,” said Rob Sexton, USSA vice president of government affairs. “The New Jersey state agency has a long history of successful wildlife management when it is allowed to do its job.”
This summer the DEP approved a bear hunt as part of the state’s overall bear management plan. The management plan, which includes both the hunt and non-lethal management tools, is meant to help control the state’s exploding black bear population.
Bear hunting in New Jersey has been under fire since 2006 when the former DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson cancelled the state’s bear hunt. In response, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, along with the Safari Club International and the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, filed a lawsuit against the state to challenge the decision to stop the bear hunt.
Despite two lower court rulings compelling the former Commissioner to proceed with the 2006 hunt, the state’s Supreme Court ultimately ruled the Commissioner could block the hunt.
12/3/10
Earlier this week, the Bear Education and Resource Group and the Animal Protection League of New Jersey filed a lawsuit in two New Jersey Superior Courts seeking to shut down the state’s upcoming bear hunt. The lawsuit alleges that the state’s bear management plan, which includes a hunt, was based on flawed science and that the state did not follow proper technical procedures when adopting the plan.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin denying a request by the groups to postpone the hunt. The six day hunt is set to open on Monday, December 6th.
In denying the request, Martin acknowledged that the bear hunt “is an important and necessary part of the state’s comprehensive approach to the management of its black bear population.”
“We hope that the court will see this lawsuit for what it really is…a last ditch anti-hunting effort that undermines the state’s science based management plan,” said Rob Sexton, USSA vice president of government affairs. “The New Jersey state agency has a long history of successful wildlife management when it is allowed to do its job.”
This summer the DEP approved a bear hunt as part of the state’s overall bear management plan. The management plan, which includes both the hunt and non-lethal management tools, is meant to help control the state’s exploding black bear population.
Bear hunting in New Jersey has been under fire since 2006 when the former DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson cancelled the state’s bear hunt. In response, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, along with the Safari Club International and the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, filed a lawsuit against the state to challenge the decision to stop the bear hunt.
Despite two lower court rulings compelling the former Commissioner to proceed with the 2006 hunt, the state’s Supreme Court ultimately ruled the Commissioner could block the hunt.
