DEP Pursues Contradictory Bear Policies

Administration Opposes Hunting But Cuts Non-Lethal Control Funding

Senator Steven V. Oroho (R-Sussex/Morris), a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, questioned the Commissioner of Environmental Protection on proposed cuts to non-lethal bear management activities, while at the same time opposing a hunt to reduce the burgeoning bear population of northwestern New Jersey.

"The Department of Environmental Protection is pursuing contradictory policies on bear management. On the one hand, they have spent considerable sums of taxpayer money by going to court to stop a bear hunt, while at the same time cutting funds in the State Budget for non-lethal methods of bear control, " Oroho said. "The DEP cannot have it both ways. You cannot argue that non-lethal bear control is essential to a comprehensive bear management policy, and then agree to cut the funding for those methods. It is obvious the bear population has grown in northwestern New Jersey, and it must be brought under control before someone is injured or killed."

The Governor's Budget Recommendation Document provides that the appropriation for black bear management be reduced from $863, 000 in Fiscal Year 2008, to $678, 000 in Fiscal Year 2009. The DEP has opposed any bear management policy that includes hunting, and has instead favored public education, control of human-derived food, and research into contraception.

"The Corzine administration was chiefly responsible for the cancellation of a bear hunt in 2006, and they have successfully litigated against any effort to allow a hunt to be considered in the future, " Oroho said. "As a result, bears are now breaking into kitchens to steal muffins in my legislative district. This administration needs to employ all scientifically valid means of controlling the bear population and reducing human-bear interactions in the future. Barring a bear hunt while simultaneously cutting funding for non-lethal bear management will not serve these goals."