Hunters Flock To Bear Down In New Jersey
By CHRIS HERRING
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703989004575653023913552474.htmlNearly 7,000 hunters have obtained permits to participate in New Jersey's black-bear hunt next week, a spike of more than 57% from the number registered for the state's last hunt, in 2005.
The surge comes even as animal-rights groups sought to stop the hunt with a legal challenge that failed on Friday.
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Some New Jersey hunters say the length of time that has passed since the last hunt drew scores of residents to buy permits. "It's so overdue, and I think most of us have felt like that for a while now," said Dave Worth, who owns the Cheyenne Mountain Outfitters store in Robbinsville. He said his shop, just east of Trenton, has sold "a ton" of permits for the hunt.
Ed Cuneo, president of the state's Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, said he expects permit sales to rise even further, citing Friday's court decision that will allow the hunt to proceed. "It's not something you get to do all the time in New Jersey," he said of bear hunting.
Officials say about 6,500 permits have been sold thus far and they expect to sell at least 500 more in the coming days. That's up from the 4,434 people who bought permits for the 2005 hunt.
The permit sales seem to signal high interest in this particular hunt as opposed to hunting in general. The 80,000 or so people who paid for hunting licenses in New Jersey last year is similar to the amount sold in 2000. But the figure is a far cry from the numbers in 1990 and 1980, when more than 125,000 and 175,000, respectively, bought hunting licenses.
Similarly, the number of license holders nationwide has held steady over the past decade, at about 15 million. That figure is off from the 16 million or so that were licensed in 1980 and 1990.
New Jersey officials said they were pleased with the sales of the $2 permits. "It's up appreciably, but we don't know why," said Lawrence Ragonese, a spokesman for the state's Department of Environmental Protection.
Bear hunts have become somewhat rare. While hunts were allowed in 2003 and 2005, the state suspended them for more than three decades starting in the 1970s to allow the animal's population to rebound.
And rebound they have. State officials cited the booming number of black bears—3,400 are estimated to reside in the northwest portion of the state, up from 500 or so in the early 1990s—in their decision to allow the hunt. They expressed concern that the animals had begun expanding into more heavily populated areas, increasing the likelihood of human encounters.
Doris Lin, an attorney representing the Animal Protection League of New Jersey and the Bear Education and Resource Group, painted the state's black-bear policy plan as sloppy and arbitrary.
"They're pretending that the hunt is necessary when the science they cite does not support one," she said.
A New Jersey appeals court did side with Ms. Lin in a 2007 lawsuit, finding that the 2005 hunt was commissioned based on faulty science. The ruling invalidated the state's bear management policy, which at the time called for an annual hunt. State officials in turn created one that called for nonlethal ways to manage the bears.
The policy has since changed again, under Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who as a candidate said he supported a bear hunt.
Participants will be allowed to shoot bears of any age and gender, using shotguns and muzzleloaders. State officials have said they seek to reduce the bear population by anywhere from 500 to 700 bears. In 2003 and 2005, 328 and 298 bears were killed, respectively.
Write to Chris Herring at chris.herring@wsj.com
The surge comes even as animal-rights groups sought to stop the hunt with a legal challenge that failed on Friday.
Ed Cuneo, president of the state's Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, said he expects permit sales to rise even further, citing Friday's court decision that will allow the hunt to proceed. "It's not something you get to do all the time in New Jersey," he said of bear hunting.
Officials say about 6,500 permits have been sold thus far and they expect to sell at least 500 more in the coming days. That's up from the 4,434 people who bought permits for the 2005 hunt.
The permit sales seem to signal high interest in this particular hunt as opposed to hunting in general. The 80,000 or so people who paid for hunting licenses in New Jersey last year is similar to the amount sold in 2000. But the figure is a far cry from the numbers in 1990 and 1980, when more than 125,000 and 175,000, respectively, bought hunting licenses.
Similarly, the number of license holders nationwide has held steady over the past decade, at about 15 million. That figure is off from the 16 million or so that were licensed in 1980 and 1990.
New Jersey officials said they were pleased with the sales of the $2 permits. "It's up appreciably, but we don't know why," said Lawrence Ragonese, a spokesman for the state's Department of Environmental Protection.
Bear hunts have become somewhat rare. While hunts were allowed in 2003 and 2005, the state suspended them for more than three decades starting in the 1970s to allow the animal's population to rebound.
And rebound they have. State officials cited the booming number of black bears—3,400 are estimated to reside in the northwest portion of the state, up from 500 or so in the early 1990s—in their decision to allow the hunt. They expressed concern that the animals had begun expanding into more heavily populated areas, increasing the likelihood of human encounters.
Doris Lin, an attorney representing the Animal Protection League of New Jersey and the Bear Education and Resource Group, painted the state's black-bear policy plan as sloppy and arbitrary.
"They're pretending that the hunt is necessary when the science they cite does not support one," she said.
A New Jersey appeals court did side with Ms. Lin in a 2007 lawsuit, finding that the 2005 hunt was commissioned based on faulty science. The ruling invalidated the state's bear management policy, which at the time called for an annual hunt. State officials in turn created one that called for nonlethal ways to manage the bears.
The policy has since changed again, under Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who as a candidate said he supported a bear hunt.
Participants will be allowed to shoot bears of any age and gender, using shotguns and muzzleloaders. State officials have said they seek to reduce the bear population by anywhere from 500 to 700 bears. In 2003 and 2005, 328 and 298 bears were killed, respectively.
Write to Chris Herring at chris.herring@wsj.com
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