Under fire in New Jersey

[Honey Pot Hounds]

New Jersey Sportsmen Get no Reprieve from Anti's-


http://www.ussportsmen.org/interactive/ ... fm?ID=1703

Sportsmen’s rights and scientific wildlife management are again under
fire in New Jersey. Anti-hunters have introduced a bill that would ban
bear hunting, fund the animal rights agenda and strip the wildlife
agency of its management authority.



On Jan. 10, Assemblyman Michael Panter, D-Red Bank, introduced AB 525.
The bill would take away the Fish and Game Commission and Department of
Environmental Protection’s authority to regulate bear hunting. Bear
management would instead be placed in the hands of a Black Bear Study
Commission, which would be appointed by the governor with reserved seats
for anti-hunting and environmental groups including the Humane Society
of the United States. There are no reserved seats for sportsmen.



The commission would be given $10,000 of taxpayer money to waste on the
examination of costly, ineffective, non-lethal bear controls. It would
also be mandated to create a black bear stamp program to pay for damages
caused by the state’s overabundant black bear population.



“Efforts to ban bear hunting in New Jersey have been relentless,” said
Tony Celebrezze, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance director of state services.
“For more than 10 years, anti’s have been trying to pass legislation
similar to Assembly Bill 525 to eliminate hunting as a bear management
tool, and the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance has worked with New Jersey
sportsmen to defeat each and every bill.”



In 2003, when the state approved its first bear hunt in over 30 years,
the U.S. Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund (SLDF) battled anti-hunters’
legal challenges to stop the bear hunt. The SLDF has been in court each
year since to protect the hunt.



Assembly Bill 525 awaits a hearing in the Assembly Committee on
Environment and Solid Waste.



Take action! New Jersey sportsmen should ask their state assembly
members to oppose AB 525. Explain that legal bear hunting is the only
reliable, cost-effective tool to manage the state’s bear population.
Other control measures fail to address the overpopulation issue. To
contact your state assemblyman, call (609) 292-4840 or use the
Legislative Action Center at http://www.ussportsmen.org.

Information on this website can be reprinted with a citation to the U.S.
Sportsmen's Alliance and http://www.ussportsmen.org

For more information about how you can protect your rights as a
sportsman, contact The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, 801 Kingsmill Parkway,
Columbus, OH 43229. Phone (614) 888-4868. E-Mail us at info@USSPORTSMEN.org