Sportsmen Amend Lawsuit after DEP Commissioner Nixes Bear Hunt
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Sportsmen Amend Lawsuit after DEP Commissioner Nixes Bear Hunt





New Jersey’s top environmental official has terminated the 2006 bear hunt.

In response, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, along with Safari Club International and the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, have amended their recently filed lawsuit against the state to challenge the cancellation and allow bear hunting permits to be issued.

The three groups had filed suit earlier this month to force the state to issue bear hunting permits, as required by law.

On Nov. 15, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Lisa Jackson rejected the state’s black bear management policy, which called for the December hunt. In a letter to the New Jersey Fish and Game Council, Jackson said that non-lethal bear controls had not been given sufficient consideration.

“Clearly, Commissioner Jackson does not have the authority to dismiss approved regulations on a whim,” said Rob Sexton, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (USSAF) vice president for government affairs. “Her decision drags politics into wildlife management and disregards the sound science on which it should be based.”

Despite increasing bear sightings and incidents, and successful hunts in 2003 and 2005, Jackson and Gov. Jon Corzine have put politics ahead of public safety. Gov. Corzine, who campaigned for office as a hunt opponent, directed the DEP Commissioner to analyze the policy permitting the hunt.

New Jersey’s black bear hunt had been scheduled for Dec. 4-9.

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund is the nation’s only litigation force that exclusively represents sportsmen’s interests in the courts. It defends wildlife management and sportsmen’s rights in local, state and federal courts. The SLDF represents the interests of sportsmen and assists government lawyers who have little or no background in wildlife law.
US Sportmens Alliance on Target

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