AR-News: "Give Bears a Break" -- Editorial (not op-ed) in Atlantic City Press (US-NJ)

[Karen Dawn]

( The ACPress takes letters at:
letters at pressofac.com )


http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/columns/031404BEARS.cfm
March 14, 2004

ANOTHER HUNT?
Give bears a break
The state Fish and Game Council bucked the McGreevey administration last
week when it voted to hold another bear hunt next December.

Bad move. First, because the bears - and the sizable portion of the public
that was so turned off by the hunt last year - deserve a break this year.

And secondly, the council should reconsider if only for its own
self-protection: This issue has reopened public debate about the wisdom of
granting autonomous power over hunting to a panel that is so dominated by
hunters and farmers.

State Department of Environmental Commissioner Bradley Campbell, who
supported the hunt last year, made it clear that he opposes another this
year: The bear-population figures are less than previously believed, he
contends, and the hunt drained resources from other bear-management
programs.

Still, both sides of the debate acknowledge that the election season is
driving the administration's opposition.

Even Campbell concedes that the administration is reacting in part to public
opposition last year. Call it the teddy-bear factor. Call it the fact that
these lumbering creatures were once almost extinct in New Jersey, and that
last year's hunt was the first in 30 years. Whatever it is, people are more
repulsed by hunters bagging a bear than shooting a grouse.

But what's wrong with considering public sensibilities when setting public
policy on a bear hunt?

New Jersey held a bear hunt last year. And a limited hunt may again be
needed in the future if the population balloons. But what's wrong with a
timeout to see how the numbers measure up and whether less-drastic measures
are effective? Putting bleach on garbage, for example, is real turnoff to
bears. Keeping garbage lids on cans goes a long way to keeping bears out of
back yards.

Meanwhile, the confrontation between the Fish and Game Council and the
administration has reignited debate about the makeup of the council.
Certainly, the council shouldn't be dominated by animal-rights activists.
But better balance would be healthy, and it would give the council more
credibility when it does rule a hunt is needed.

Moreover, the administration should certainly have some say over the
council's decisions. Campbell has the power to overrule the council, in
effect, by not issuing bear-hunting permits. But the DEP commissioner should
have some kind of established oversight over this now-autonomous agency.
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