Bear Problems Grow in New Jersey

How many bears can New Jersey sustain? Actually, the real question is how many bear problems will the citizens of New Jersey tolerate? Many have reached their limit. In order to solve the problem, Andover and Vernon Townships put a referendum on their fall ballot asking voters whether they approved of a bear hunt to thin bruin numbers.

However, the state attorney general told the townships to remove this item from the ballot, because the state has jurisdiction over bear management. Apparently there is some question about whether public opinion can determine bear hunting, rather than scientific information provided by the state wildlife agency.

Hmmm.. An interesting thought. In recent years public opinion, rather than scientific data, has decided the fate of bear hunting in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. And in Maryland, public opinion prevented a needed bear hunt. So, although it's nice to suggest that the state will use science to decide whether to hold bear seasons, truth is that the wildlife agency's hands are tied whenever state referendums and public opinion make wildlife management decisions. In fact, 2 years ago, when New Jersey bear encounters reached an intolerable level, the Governor proposed to cull bears, and animal rightists rebelled.

But the bear problems are real in New Jersey. From January through September 2002, the wildlife agency received 800 calls concerning bears that posed a risk to life and property. Proposed solutions to these situations have been a bit unrealistic. A representative of the Sierra Club called for more research. Others called for the banging of trash lids to scare bears away. A biologist with the Humane Society of the United States stated that "hunting is not going to reduce conflicts between humans and bears." Why wouldn't it? It does in other states.

Enough of this gibberish. New Jersey cannot solve its problems by banging on trashcans. The legislature needs to support a hunting season so bears can be managed. Meanwhile, the citizens in Andover and Vernon Townships will continue to suffer from bear problems.

Urban Problems Mount

Continuing urban sprawl creates citizen/wildlife problems for more than just bears. In Virginia, urban dwellers are butting heads with deer. As always, many folks support a bowhunt, and many are opposed. In Edgehill, a group of bowhunters has volunteered to help. Under the conditions of their special permit, these bowhunters must hunt from elevated stands (thus eliminating safety problems that were raised), and they can only go on property when invited by the landowner. This situation is occurring everywhere. Deer in towns are causing damage, and some citizens want them removed, while others are opposed to all killing. It's a bitter struggle, but the plain and simple fact is that bowhunting provides a quiet, unobtrusive, safe alternative for removing deer.

In Oregon, the elimination of hound hunting for mountain lions has led to conflicts. With mountain lion populations increasing and humans encroaching on lion habitat, more and more human/lion encounters are being reported. In October, one such encounter occurred in White City when Jay Dishong's deer archery target was stalked by a cougar. When he attempted to chase the cat, it turned and growled. Dishong shot the animal with a gun but did not face prosecution because of state rules that allow the killing of aggressive lions or bears. Again, as in most instances of negative wildlife/human encounters, some citizens did not want the animal shot. And, as is true in most of these situations, a legal hunting season would give citizens management alternatives to solve conflicts with wildlife.

Bowhunters Pay The Bills

Latest figures provided by the Archery Trade Association show that the archery industry contributes almost $21 million in excise taxes to state wildlife agencies every year. For 2001, there were $8.42 million in excise taxes paid on bows, $4.53 million on arrow components, $3.25 million on broadheads, $2.35 million on crossbows, $1.22 million on bowsights, and almost $1 million on arrow rests, quivers, strings, peeps, and other accessories. However, due to a loophole in the law (that the Archery Trade Association and others are diligently trying to change) arrows assembled outside the United States do not pay the excise tax. Thus, not only do they have an unfair advantage in pricing against arrows made in the USA, but these monies are lost to the management of wildlife by the state agencies. If you want to help keep our wildlife system healthy, the next time you purchase arrows, check to make sure they are made in the USA.

Media Drive CWD Hysteria

Dr. Terry Kreeger, a veterinarian with the Wyoming Fish and Game Department, believes that chronic wasting disease is "a media-driven disease." One aspect of this hysteria is Cruetzfeldt-Jacob disease, a similar brain disease that affects - and kills - humans. Several instances of this disease have occurred in people who consumed venison, leading to fears that consuming CWD-positive meat will lead to Cruetzfeldt-Jacob disease. In a talk given at a Minnesota CWD conference, Dr. Kreeger noted that there is a lower ratio of Cruetzfeldt-Jacob disease in the CWD endemic areas of Wyoming and Colorado than in other parts of the country. However, so pervasive is the fear of CWD that as of mid-October (as this is being written), Wisconsin hunting license sales are down 22 percent. The impacts of such a drop on the economy of Wisconsin, and on the budget of the game agency, are devastating.

Interestingly, most Colorado hunters, where CWD has been found for 30 years, are not afraid of the disease. License sales there are at a record high. Nonresident license sales are also up, and hunters are doing what they should do in this CWD situation. They are hunting. In Colorado, the state has provided a cheap ($17) and rapid (24 hours) CWD test, but hunters are not overly concerned. In fact, by mid-October, only one-fifth of the hunters who have harvested deer or elk have submitted animals for testing. As of mid-October the Veterinary Diagnostic Center in Colorado had received 1,760 elk and deer heads to test, and 14 tested positive. This probably means that hunters have consumed animals with CWD for quite a few years, with no ill effects.

Hopefully, by this time next year, the situation in Wisconsin will return to normal. Some deer there will have CWD; culling efforts will have reduced the population in the hot zone, thus slowing the spread of the disease; and hunters will be hunting deer again.