Hunters, animal lovers take aim at December NJ bear hunt

New Jersey's next black bear hunt is fast approaching, and Gov. Phil Murphy is caught in the political crossfire of two pending lawsuits on opposite sides of the issue.

One complaint was filed by sportsmen looking to reopen state land after Murphy closed it to hunting, the other by animal rights activists trying to stop the hunt altogether.

A suit brought by the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance and Safari Club International challenges Murphy's Aug. 20 executive order directing Commissioner Catherine McCabe, who leads the state Department of Environmental Protection, to close 700,000 acres of state land to bear hunting. The hunters argue that McCabe closed state lands "based on a campaign promise and directive from the Governor, not science or policy," according to the lawsuit.

The other lawsuit, filed in 2015 by the League of Humane Voters and the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, seeks to invalidate the state's Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy in order to stop the hunt. The New Jersey Supreme Court has previously ruled that a hunt cannot go forward without a Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy in place.

"We support the governor's decision to close state lands to the bear hunt, but we don't believe it goes far enough," said Doris Lin, the attorney for the animal rights groups. Lin, who argued the case before the Appellate Division in Newark last Friday, said she anticipated there would be a ruling soon, although it's impossible to know when.

The two cases are on separate legal tracks and were recently argued before appellate panels in Trenton and Newark. Decisions are expected before the start of the six-day firearms season, which is scheduled to begin on Dec. 3.

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The hunters say that by closing state lands, the DEP has overstepped its authority and is acting more like a property owner than the state agency that is responsible for wildlife management. They contend that the DEP is usurping the authority of the state Fish and Game Council, which decides what animals can be hunted, and where, when it adopts the game code each year.

"We pay for that land with our licenses and taxes," said Cody McLaughlin, a spokesman for the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance. He added that closing 700,000 acres of state land deprives hunters of access to some of the best bear habitat.

The state counters that hunters aren't being deprived of an opportunity because they can still go on private land, albeit with the owners' permission. And in its brief, the state cites a 2004 Appellate Division ruling holding that the DEP commissioner, not the Fish and Game Council, has the “ultimate authority" over what state lands are opened to hunting.

McLaughlin says getting permission isn't that easy.

"You can't just waltz onto private land," he said. "It can take months for a hunter to get permission." He attributed the sharp decline in the October harvest, when 140 bears were, taken compared with 244 last year, to the closure of state lands.

Animal rights activists would like to kill the bear hunt altogether. Their best shot is convincing the Appellate Division that the Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy, which authorizes annual hunts through 2021, is fatally flawed.

Lin argued Friday that the policy doesn't set a population goal and doesn't say how many bear complaints in a given year are acceptable. And unlike neighboring Pennsylvania, New Jersey doesn't survey its residents to help determine the cultural carrying capacity, which is the number of bears that can co-exist compatibly with the local human population in a given area.

"All those factors are important," Lin said. "And it all shows that the policy is deficient."