Will Phil Murphy make good on his pledge to suspend NJ's bear hunt?

Gov. Phil Murphy has been unequivocal in his opposition to New Jersey's bear hunt, saying repeatedly on the campaign trail that he would impose a moratorium this year and shift the state's focus toward non-lethal means of population control.

But this week his nominee to lead the state Department of Environmental Protection told legislators that a moratorium is not a certainty.

At a state Senate budget committee hearing on Tuesday, Catherine McCabe said non-lethal methods, such as fertility control and moving bears to less populated areas, do not appear to work.

“No one wants to shoot animals if you don’t have to, but according to the wildlife managers and veterinarians, it’s sometimes more humane to do that than leave the other situations developing,” she said, referring to overpopulation and the encroachment of residential areas on bear territory in North Jersey.

"So we’re looking closely at this to see if there is anything that we can do that is science-based to change this and which we could go back to the Fish and Game Council," she said of the governor-appointed body that sets hunting policy. "We will be advising the governor of our findings on that sometime in the near future and make a decision going forward on how to handle this. It’s a difficult issue."

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McCabe's comments, which followed a number of recent bear sightings in North Jersey, drew cautious optimism Thursday from hunters and some concern from animal rights advocates.

As early as December 2016, Murphy said he wanted to suspend the hunt. "Like he has on so many issues, Gov. [Chris] Christie acted unilaterally to expand the bear hunt without local input or evidence that it is effective at controlling the bear population," he said in a Facebook post.

It became a clear dividing point between Murphy, a Democrat, and Kim Guadagno, his Republican gubernatorial opponent, who wanted to continue the hunt. After being elected last year, Murphy issued a similar statement in December before the start of what many believed was the last bear hunt for some time.

On Thursday, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection did not mention a moratorium when asked whether McCabe would clarify her statements.

"The Governor has been clear that he supports further study of black bear management in New Jersey," Larry Hajna, a DEP spokesman, said in an email. Murphy "has directed DEP to review the available science and consult with the Fish and Game Council to determine if the state should pursue changes to the regulations authorizing the bear hunt."

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Angi Metler, executive director of Bear Education and Resource Group, which has long opposed the hunt, said she thought McCabe may have been misinformed on the issues and wants to meet with her.

Metler's group has advocated for keeping garbage, bird feeders, compost and other "unnatural food sources" away from bears so they stop reproducing at an early age. She is not in favor of birth control methods or relocation programs.

"I have no reason to doubt the sincerity of Governor Murphy’s sacred promise," she said Thursday.

“The only thing I know is that whenever I saw Phil he assured us that this will end," Metler said. "If there is a fundamental change in this policy, he’s making a big mistake.”

Mark Kronyak, a member of United Bow Hunters of New Jersey, said eight years of hunting under the Christie administration has led to a reduction in the number of encounters between bears and humans.

"There’s no reason to stop it," said Kronyak, who participated in expanded October bear hunts in 2016 and 2017. "It’s an emotional argument to make. The hunt absolutely works. It reduces the population and makes us all safer."

Bears have been spotted in recent weeks in Teaneck, Ridgewood, Paramus and Rockaway. A bear cub was found killed near Route 17 in Saddle River.

More than 3,400 bears have been killed in 10 hunts since 2010, according to state data. As of late November 2017, the number of reported bear complaints had decreased by 56 percent since 2016.

The bear hunt has taken place in five zones west of Route 287 and north of Route 78 in portions of Bergen, Passaic, Morris, Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, Somerset and Mercer counties.

The hunt draws dozens of protesters to the bear check station at the Whittingham Wildlife Management Area in Newton.