For Immediate Release
November 15, 2022
Media Contact: Anjuli.Ramos@sierraclub.org | 267-399-6422
Sierra Club Urges Murphy Admin To Stop the Black Bear Hunt
Trenton, NJ - The Sierra Club, New Jersey chapter testified at the Fish and Game Council meeting today on the approval of the State’s Comprehensive Bear Management Policy (CBBMP) and amendments to the Game Code. The chapter strongly disagrees with Governor Murphy's justification for reversing his Executive Order to allow a black bear hunt this December.
Anjuli Ramos-Busot, New Jersey Director of the Sierra Club, released the following statement:
“The New Jersey Sierra Club does not support an emergency rule for the hunting of Black Bears. The presented basis of an emergency does not justify a hunt, especially when you compare cases in 2008-2011 that are nearly twice as high as in 2022. There were also no bear hunts in 2008 and 2009 when cases are much higher than this year.
“We believe the danger to public safety and welfare is not so immediate that a hunt needs to happen before the agency could provide the requisite notice and comment. This is especially important since the public was only given 5 days with a weekend in between without a virtual option to participate in this public comment process.
“The NJ Chapter recognizes that there has been an increase in sightings and nuisance cases in general this year, however we strongly urge Governor Murphy to keep his commitment and resort to the broad non-lethal pilot management plan before allowing the hunt of bears. According to the NJDFW reports, an increase in sightings and nuisance is observed from 2019 to 2020, this can be attributed to the pandemic. Most of us were working from home and with the ability to be more outdoors, therefore an increase in sighthings was expected. However from 2020 to 2022, there is almost a 50% decrease in both sightings and nuisance cases.
“Additionally, NJDEP’s Wildlife Management and Public Safety Initiative should be conducted before resorting to the bear hunt on state lands. However, NJ DEP’s non-lethal management plan encourages residents to make complaints instead of requiring them to bear-proof their property. We recommend that NJ DEP’s non-lethal management plan include requirements for bear proof containers in bear country and provide financial support for municipalities to pay for them. Without this critical component, New Jersey will continue to have nuisance cases even with a hunt. Better management of our garbage, efficient signage indicating Do’s and Don’ts, educational materials at trail heads, enforcement of no bear feeding and bear-proofing properties in areas with a high population (bear country) are necessary practices that will go far beyond hunting more bears. This is especially important because New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation. We want to see comprehensive action of these tactics before we kill more bears. The state legislature must also introduce and pass effective bear smart policy such as former Senator Lesniak’s Bear Smart Bill S687.
“Governor Murphy campaigned to end the bear hunt and has flipped on his promise. This is extremely disappointing, especially since protecting wildlife is a critical component of our work at the Sierra Club who have 3.8 million members and supporters nationwide. In just a day and a half, 883 of our members and supporters in New Jersey took action to call on Governor Murphy to stop the bear hunt. The bear fact is that the public does not want this. Governor, how can we trust you when you are breaking your promise on an issue that is not only incredibly important to New Jerseyans but also the entire country? We are just getting started and will continue to fight this disappointing decision by the Murphy Administration.”
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About the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information about our work in New Jersey, visit www.sierraclub.org/new-jersey.