Sportsmen Believe New Jersey Governor Will Ban Bear Hunt- (11/21

U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance ^ | 11/21/03 | Unknown

[Seamus Mc Gillicuddy]

(Columbus) – A growing string of evidence suggests that New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey may bow to animal rights pressure and cancel the state’s upcoming black bear hunt, according to the nation’s principal sportsmen’s advocacy organization.

“The McGreevey administration has time and again displayed its sympathy for the anti-hunting cause,” said U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Vice President for Government Affairs Rob Sexton.

The Alliance has been in business since 1978, fighting anti-hunting issues, and tracking the decisions of elected officials sympathetic to the anti-hunting movement. Sexton explained that all signs point to McGreevey siding with anti-hunting activists against wildlife experts, public safety concerns and hunters.

“The governor has created committees to establish wildlife policy and stacked them with animal rights advocates,” he said. McGreevey’s Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner, Bradley Campbell, has in recent weeks gone so far as to blame homeowners for incidents with nuisance black bears. Campbell has admitted to wanting to take a serious look at birth control for the animals, as a means of controlling wildlife populations, in order to discourage hunting.

Most recently the state attorney general filed its opposition to the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation’s involvement in opposing a lawsuit that seeks to ban the black bear hunt.

The attorney general maintains that the state will adequately represent hunters’ interests. However, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance believes that the facts surrounding the government’s position indicate that there is an excellent chance that the state will not adequately represent hunters.

Sexton said, “The government’s objection to our involvement in the case only adds to our concern that its real agenda is to capitulate to the animal rights lobby. We would hate to see this case blown only to fulfill the governor’s political agenda. More importantly, the governor could wind up with blood on his hands while he is playing political games.”

The New Jersey Fish and Game Council approved the black bear hunt in July to address concerns about the state’s uncontrolled black bear population and the problems, including human conflicts with bears, which result from it. The conflicts include an incident in May in which a New Jersey toddler was struck on the head by a 175-pound female bear. In August, an 18-year-old woman survived a bear attack at a park near her home.

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is calling on New Jersey citizens to contact Gov. McGreevey at (609) 292-6000 and urge him to protect public safety and sportsmen’s rights. Ask him to allow the black bear hunt to continue as scheduled December 8-13.

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers nationally in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website, www.ussportsmen.org.

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[Seamus Mc Gillicuddy]

NJ FREEPERS! PLEASE CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES. LET THEM KNOW YOU WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS!

[Terriergal]

Utterly idiotic. I am so sick of the bunny/bear huggers.

[joesnuffy]

NJ = pro criminal -pro terrorist- pro predator-

[muleskinner]

Bears - in "Joisey"?

Did Tony cap one, have it stuffed and display it in the Bada-Bing?

[Paleo Conservative]

I think I read somewhere that there is an over population of bears in New Jersey. Is that true?

[Batrachian]

Never mind the bear hunt, how about the $.13 gasoline tax hike? Now that the Democraps own the legislature they'll rubber stamp everything he wants. I gotta get out of this state. I just don't fit in with the liberals and socialists that infest this miserable place.

I'm moving to Nevada.

[Terriergal]

Overpopulation of just about everything, not just bears.

[Terriergal]

I gotta get out of this state.

I'll second that. Anywhere's gotta be better than living shoulder to shoulder with your neighbor!

I drove through there on choir tour back in 1990 - I felt claustrophobic.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[ElkGroveDan]

Thye banned mountain lion hunting in California and guess what? People and pets are being attacked by the lions and endangered bighorn sheep are being decimated by them. There is no logic among the insane.

[ladylib]

In some northern parts of NJ, people see them in their yards. One morning, a lady was baking brownies for her child's preschool class. The bear crashed through the front door and destroyed her kitchen. There was another incident where a woman was frying pork chops and a bear tried to get into her house. You can't let little kids outside anymore in certain areas.

A couple of years ago, a Bergen County couple (ten minutes from the GW Bridge) found one swimming in their swimming pool.

I now see deer in my back yard. Can't wait to see a bear/sarcasm.

[Batrachian]

I think freezing your tail off every winter in MN is even worse. But, as I say, it's the liberals here that are the problem for me.

[pabianice]

First they came for the hi-cap semi-autos, and because I didn't own one, I said nothing.

Then they came for the "assault rifles," and because I didn't own one, I said nothing.

Then they came for all semi-autos as "dangerous consumer produsts," and because I didn't own one, I said nothing.

Then they came for the rest of the handguns as "dangerous to children," and because I didn't own one, I said nothing.

Then they came for the hunting rifles... and there wasn't anyone left to speak up for me.

[oceanview]

McGreevey's sister is a radical PETA style animal rights person, she is driving this, along with the zoned out NJ suburban soccer moms.

[JerseyHighlander]

I have had bears (over 10 different animals) walk through my yard, 35 miles west of Central Park, NYC, during te last 6 years. A child down the street was almost killed last year by a young male bear. Local elementary school had a young male bear raiding the dumpsters. The head of the NJ Audobon Society left North Jersey (my town in particular) because he knows that the first child killed by a bear will be blood on his hands. Yet he still vocally advocates the bear hunting ban. Those who have have the Ban the Bear Hunt bumper stickers have never been stalked by a bear while walking through the local park, and have never had to tell families with young kids in tow on the trail that they need to turn around because there is a young male bear on the trail. Only to have the adults get excited and run towards the direction of the bear.

Hopefully the Chinese poachers from the West Coast will fan out on the East Coast and take care of the problem if McGreevey or the courts won't.

[Vision]

You all are having a bad day up there is loony liberal land.


U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation
801 Kingsmill Parkway, Columbus, OH 43229
Ph. 614/888-4868 • Fax 614/888-0326

Website: www.ussportsmen.org • E-mail: info@ussportsmen.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Doug Jeanneret (614) 888-4868 x 212

November 24, 2003 Beth Ruth (614) 888-4868 x 214

Suit Filed to End All Hunting, Fishing and Trapping
In New Jersey

(Columbus) - Anti-hunters today filed a lawsuit against the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to suspend all hunting, fishing and trapping.

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is looking into the merits of the case to determine what action to pursue.

The case alleges that the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has issued sporting licenses to convicted felons. To avoid future instances, the plaintiffs are asking Judge Susan Reisner of the Superior Court of New Jersey to suspend all hunting, fishing and trapping licenses until a background check system for all license buyers is put into place.

“This is the most outrageous and blatant attack on sportsmen’s rights that we have seen in our 25-year history,” said Bud Pidgeon, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation president. “To besmirch the reputation of sportsmen by linking us to felons is unconscionable. Sportsmen are America’s greatest conservationists, paying literally billions each year to fund fish and wildlife programs across the country.”

It is illegal in New Jersey for any convicted felon to possess or purchase a weapon, Pidgeon said. Criminal background checks would unnecessarily delay the issuance of a sporting license. The lawsuit even asks that fishing license purchases require background checks.

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website, www.ussportsmen.org.

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.

Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[Terriergal]

Well I'm not a big fan of MN myself! I was born in the UP of MI. More snow, less cold... but the snow does last longer.

Better deer hunting up there IMO.

I'd like to be someplace a little warmer but it's nice to get rid of the mosquitoes for part of the year.

[Terriergal]

I can't understand how people can keep saying "bears aren't dangerous"... phooey. The only reason some predators don't regularly attack man is that man hunts THEM regularly. Over generations of no hunting pressure and being accustomed to the presence of humans, they learn that man is a potential food source, either through their trash, or eating the people themselves if they can.

[Batrachian]

Well, there you go. Nevada. Nice and warm, no mosquitos, and you can hang out with Art Bell. What more could anyone ask for?

Bright light city gonna set my soul
Gonna set my soul on fire
Got a whole lot of money that’s ready to burn,
So get those stakes up higher
There’s a thousand pretty women waitin’ out there
And they’re all livin’ devil may care
And I’m just the devil with love to spare
Viva las vegas, viva las vegas

How I wish that there were more
Than the twenty-four hours in the day
’cause even if there were forty more
I wouldn’t sleep a minute away
Oh, there’s black jack and poker and the roulette wheel
A fortune won and lost on ev’ry deal
All you need’s a strong heart and a nerve of steel
Viva las vegas, viva las vegas

Viva las vegas with you neon flashin’
And your one armbandits crashin’
All those hopes down the drain
Viva las vegas turnin’ day into nighttime
Turnin’ night into daytime
If you see it once
You’ll never be the same again

I’m gonna keep on the run
I’m gonna have me some fun
If it costs me my very last dime
If I wind up broke up well
I’ll always remember that I had a swingin’ time
I’m gonna give it ev’rything I’ve got
Lady luck please let the dice stay hot
Let me shout a seven with ev’ry shot
Viva las vegas, viva las vegas,
Viva, viva las vegas

I'm there!