CNBNews

So far 392 bears have been killed in the first round of New Jersey’s bear hunt. Governor Murphy reinstated the bear hunt two years ago after stating that, “We cannot rely on nonlethal methods alone to protect New Jersey residents from a growing black bear population.” Unfortunately New Jersey has yet to follow through on effective non lethal management strategies, such as mandating bear proof garbage containers in counties with high populations of bears. 

“Hunting may be necessary at times to balance the ecosystem, however, without an actual bear management plan that deals with protection of habitats, garbage, and educating people in bear country, the NJ hunt is meaningless. The Murphy Administration needs to focus on the trash part of the bear problem and adequately fund bear-resistant trash containers in counties where there is a high population of bears,” said Taylor McFarland, Conservation Program Manager of the Sierra Club, NJ Chapter. “ With New Jersey being one of the country's most overdeveloped and densest states, the coexistence of bears and humans will continue to get more difficult unless we effectively manage our trash.”

There are some efforts by the NJDEP to provide bear proof containers. In April, nearly 3,000 bear-resistant residential trash receptacles will be distributed in six municipalities in the coming weeks free of charge, courtesy of the state Department of Environmental Protection. Senator Johnson and Assemblyman Stanley are also pushing forward a bill that would deter unintentionally feeding bears, S765(Johnson/Zwicker) was recently released out of the Senate Economic Growth Committee on October 10th. 

“New Jersey must invest in practical, non-lethal management efforts so that humans and bears can coexist. NJDEP provided 3,000 free bear proof containers, but that is just a drop in the bucket. The Murphy Administration needs to allocate more funding directly towards funding these critical containers that will help prevent nuisance cases. At the same time, the New Jersey Legislature needs to move forward legislation like S765(Johnson)/A360(Stanley) that requires corrective action when storing any food or garbage that would result in unintentionally feeding bears known to frequent the area,” said Taylor McFarland, Conservation Program Manager of the Sierra Club, NJ Chapter.