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Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. -- New Jersey Environmental chief Bradley Campbell overstepped his authority when he deemed state-owned land off-limits to bear hunting, a lawyer for a hunting group told a state appeals panel Thursday. "I don't think he has the authority to close lands to hunting once a season has opened via the game code," Safari Club International attorney Anna Seidman said. "He is closing lands for the purpose of stopping the hunt." But a lawyer for the state called Campbell "a steward of state resources" and said part of the commissioner's job is to manage wildlife. "This is...

Department of Environmental Commissioner Bradley Campbell's attempt to "take control" of wildlife management in the state could cost New Jersey millions in federal aid. In a letter released yesterday, the U.S. Department of the Interior threatened to withdraw $2 million in annual wildlife aid to New Jersey because Campbell has violated federal regulations by interfering with a planned bear hunt authorized by an... The letter was made public during a hearing yesterday on a lawsuit to stop Campbell from closing state-owned land to bear hunters. The Interior Department contends Campbell is improperly "attempting to take control" of wildlife management authority...

The encounter last weekend between three bears and two Boy Scouts at a camp in Warren County was more harrowing than originally reported, as the bears pawed at the teenagers for an hour, bit one of them and attempted to bite the other, according to a report by state wildlife investigators.The boys, who were later vaccinated for rabies, cowered on a rock as they fended off the two 60-pound cubs and the mother bear at the Yards Creek Scout Reservation in Blairstown on Saturday night, wildlife investigators said.One of the boys was bitten twice by a cub. The animal first...

Judges weigh conflicting laws in Jersey bear hunt dispute Wednesday, November 10, 2004 BY BRIAN T. MURRAY Star-Ledger Staff A state appeals court reserved decision yesterday on a lawsuit filed by two sporting groups and three New Jersey hunters who want to force a bear hunt early next month. The six-day hunt, scheduled for Dec. 6-11, was approved in July by the autonomous state Fish and Game Council. However, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley Campbell took the unprecedented step last month of refusing to issue permits. That action led to the lawsuit.

It has been described as a battle between North and South, between urban and rural, between Old Maine and New Maine. At issue? A bear referendum, which would outlaw hunting of Maine's black bears with the help of stale jelly doughnuts and other "bait," leg-hold traps, or hound dogs. The campaign - which has played upon fear and repugnance, and questioned traditions, ethics, and what it means to be a true sportsman - will appear as a question Tuesday on the ballot in this battleground state. Supporters say that luring bears with bait while hunters wait in place, trapping them,...

Judge orders NJ to accept bear hunt permits; DEP chief closes public lands to hunt Wednesday October 27, 2004 By JEFF LINKOUS Associated Press Writer TRENTON, N.J. (AP) A state judge on Wednesday ordered the Department of Environmental Protection to accept permit applications for a December black bear hunt. The order by Judge Jane Grall of the Appellate Division of Superior Court, comes in response to Environmental Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell's continued opposition to the hunt. Campbell maintains the applications were not authorized and are therefore invalid. The order gives Campbell until 4 p.m. Friday to respond to the Oct....

N.J. to test drugs to curb rising bear population Sunday, October 10, 2004 Seeking alternatives to hunting, the state is set to begin testing a series of contraception and sterilization drugs on a captive black bear population living in the safari park at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson. Scientists plan to round up about a dozen black bears that live in the safari park on Oct. 19. Females will be injected with the vaccine PZP, a contraceptive. PZP, which stands for Porcine Zona Pellucida, is a protein that wraps itself around the egg in the uterus and prevents fertilization....

<p>Last year in Maryland, hunters killed about 200,000 mourning doves and 87,000 deer. Squirrels and rabbits died by the tens of thousands.</p> <p>Nobody held a protest or filed a lawsuit. Instead, it was a typical year in a state that, despite its urban and suburban centers, has more than 100,000 licensed hunters.</p>

Unwilling to be stymied by foot-dragging on the part of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the state Fish and Game Council is pressing forward with its plan to have a second year of bear hunting in New Jersey.

State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) commissioner Bradley Campbell made it clear earlier this year that he was against a black bear hunt in New Jersey in 2004. The problem he faced was that rules and regulations regarding hunting and fishing are legally within the realm of the independent state Fish and Game Council. And, despite Campbell's opposition, the Fish and Game Council included a second bear hunt in its new game code. The code says would-be bear hunters need to submit their applications for a permit by Sept. 30.

The Commissioner of the New Jersey D.E.P. has decided to run interference for his puppetmaster, Governor James E. McGreevey of New Jersey, in blocking a bear hunt, despite a vote of 6-1 by the New Jersey Fish and Game Council supporting such a hunt. The members of said council probably know far more about this subject than either the Governor or his mouthpiece both of whom apparently are willing to sacrifice the welfare and safety of the majority of New Jersey's citizens for the benefit of a handfull of animal rights wackos. If the bear population in that state can't...

ASSEMBLY, No. 2634 STATE OF NEW JERSEY 211th LEGISLATURE INTRODUCED MAY 3, 2004 Sponsored by: Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone District 31 (Hudson) SYNOPSIS Prohibits black bear hunting for five years and until study is issued by Fish and Game Council; appropriates $95,000. CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT As introduced. An Act concerning the hunting of black bear and making an appropriation. Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey: 1. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule, regulation, or provision of the State Fish and Game Code to the contrary, there shall be no open season nor...

New Jersey lawmakers are considering a measure that would give nearly $100,000 in state funds to the Humane Society of the United States, the nation’s largest anti-hunting group. Senate Bill 1219, sponsored by Joseph Vitale (D-Woodbridge), would give $95,000 to HSUS to study ways to eliminate bear hunting in the state. The measure would set a dangerous precedent, allowing animal rights groups to dictate wildlife public policy and using taxpayer dollars for it. The HSUS opposes hunting, fishing, and trapping and invests its time and money to eradicate such activities. The bill would also prohibit the hunting of black bears...

VERNON, NJ-September 18, 2003 — Vernon police fatally shoot a black bear after it twice broke into the basement of a township home this week. The three-year-old female bear first entered the home early Tuesday by breaking a glass door. A neighbor saw what happened and notified the home's owner, Rosemary DeLorenzo, who fled with her two children. The neighbor then scared the bear off with an air horn and the family returned home. But the 181-pound bear returned several hours later when DeLorenzo was home alone, and she called police. The bear left when the officers arrived and then...

“Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives.” – A. Sachs Almost everyone knows about New Jersey’s infamous Bear hunt this past winter. Any way you look at it, it appears to be a simple method of population control. However, there were some New Jerseyans who thought this hunt was very “controversial”. I don’t know why a number of people think it’s a conflicting issue; many states allow hunts like this go on all the time. So what makes New Jersey so special that hunting bear becomes a “controversial” issue? Are we trying too hard to...

<p>The folks at the Hermione Museum in Tallulah, ever mindful that Teddy Roosevelt helped make their town part of his presidential lore with a 1907 bear hunt, will open an exhibit related to the nation's 26th president May 1.</p> <p>To celebrate the establishment of the Roosevelt Room at the Hermione, the museum on April 30 will host "An Evening with Tweed," a dinner with remarks from the president's great-grandson, Tweed Roosevelt of Boston, who frequently speaks about his famous ancestor.</p>

Is the New Jersey bear hunt a good idea? Yes 40% No 60% Total Votes: 202

<p>TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The state's first bear hunt in more than three decades entered its third day Wednesday with hunters hoping that warmer temperatures might tempt some bruins to leave their dens.</p> <p>Hunters also had an extra 33,000 acres to scout in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area after a federal judge on Tuesday lifted a temporary ban on bear hunting there.</p>

One day soon we will be reading about a bear sighting in New York City. A Manhattan bear is a distinct possibility, should the prospective rogue prove to be as venturesome as those coyotes who have been observed crossing various bridges into Gotham and dodging late-night taxis on their way toward Central Park. Nor can one rule out an ursine visit to Brooklyn, although this would require a rare Two-Bridge or Bridge-and-Tunnel Bear. No, the initial encounter is most likely to occur in the Bronx, that borough being contiguous with the mainland's Eastern corridor, where the black bear has staged...

Judge Turns Down Environmentalists, Allows N.J. Bear Hunt Expanded to Federal Recreation Area By Krista Larson Associated Press Writer TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A judge on Tuesday lifted an order that had closed a sprawling national recreation area to bear hunters, as the state's first open season on the animals in more than three decades went into its second day. On Monday, the first day of the new bear season, hunters bagged 61 bears, the largest weighing 498 pounds, the state Department of Environmental Protection said. Officials hope the hunt will reduce the state's population of an estimated 3,200 bears...