New Jersey knows bears better than Goldilocks.

We’ve compiled so many scientific reports on them, we’ve probably had to shake a few out of trees so we could cut down the lumber to make the paper. We’ve had bear policy debates, bear public hearings, bear protests and bear call-in radio segments. We’ve shot bears, run over bears, chased bears, tranquilized bears and tagged bears. Lawyers have argued about bears in front of the state Supreme Court.

Heck, there hasn’t been this much angst over misbehaving bears since Jim McMahon and “Refrigerator” Perry.

And after all this bear back-and-forth, the state last year crafted a Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy to deal with the growing bear population. Along with educating the public against leaving six-foot Italian subs or tasty poodles on their decks, the plan calls for a hunt whenever there are too many bears wandering into too many backyards and confronting us — as they are now.

Bear lovers insist the hunt is an excuse for testosterone-drunk hunters to drag home trophies. But New Jersey is hardly bear-shooting crazy. This year’s hunt, scheduled to start Monday, will mark the first time in 40 years the state is holding black bear hunts in consecutive years. Last year, 600 bears were killed during the hunt. It barely dented the population.

But, as usual, game officials and activists can’t agree. Officials say it’s a bull market for bears — that Yogi is growing in numbers, and getting more dangerous and reckless when confronting humans. Activists, however, say statisticians are making a boo-boo. They insist bears aren’t more of a problem; the public is more diligent about reporting incidents.

A group, which has filed a lawsuit to stop the hunt, made its arguments before the judges yesterday, and the appellate court is expected to rule before the first shot.

Jeff Tittel, of the Sierra Club, says we should embrace bears, not hunt them — because they prove the state “hasn’t been paved over with subdivisions and strip malls.” So, we should celebrate coyotes, mosquitoes and poison ivy, too?

If there is going to be a hunt, Tittel says nuisance bears on the fringes of neighborhoods should be the targets. After all, they’re the ones using our trash cans as buffet tables. It makes sense, but hunting on the outskirts of town might be risky.

Until bears wear condoms and stay in the woods, we’ll need an occasional hunt. Bears used to be on the endangered list. Now, it seems, we could be on theirs.

Related editorial: N.J. bear hunt is needed: Bear population must be controlled