Murphy administration’s prohibition holds for now. Sporting groups pledge to continue their fight to overturn it
Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:
A state appeals court has denied a bid by three sporting groups to open state lands to next month’s scheduled black bear hunt.
A state appeals court has denied a bid by three sporting groups to open state lands to next month’s scheduled black bear hunt.
In a 41-page decision issued Friday, the court rejected a challenge by the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance, Safari Club International, and Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation to the Murphy administration’s ban on hunting of bears on state-controlled lands.
In the decision, the latest chapter of recurring controversy and litigation overhunting of black bears, the three-judge panel dismissed arguments by the pro-hunting groups that the closure was impermissibly based on a political campaign promise made by Gov. Phil Murphy.
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“The merit (or even the probability of success) of appellants’ claim of public necessity for a hunt to take place on state lands has yet to be established,’’ the court said, noting bear hunters will still have access to other lands and the hunt may be extended if the harvest falls below specified targets.
In August, the governor issued an executive order preventing the hunting of bears on state lands but stopped short of ending the hunt altogether, saying he lacked legal authority to do so. Murphy campaigned on a promise to end the bear hunt, a policy long advocated by animal rights groups and some environmental organizations but opposed by the New Jersey Fish and Game Council.
Increase in black bear population
New Jersey held its first bear hunt since 1970 back in 2003 after a growth in the black bear population led to increased encounters with the public in backyards and outdoors, particularly in northern New Jersey. Despite an outcry from critics, the state has held a bear hunt the past eight years.
