Right on cue, the Humane Society of the United States, Animal Protection League of New Jersey and Friends of Animals have filed a lawsuit to stop the renewed bear hunt set to begin Monday, Dec. 5, in portions of the state.
“Attacking the process and questioning the science is a standard tactic when activists don’t get their way,” said Todd Adkins, vice president of government affairs for Sportsmen’s Alliance. “This is what amounts to a legal temper tantrum and a last-ditch fundraising effort by multimillion-dollar animal-rights organizations.”
Gov. Phil Murphy fought the Sportsmen’s Alliance, Safari Club International and New Jersey Outdoor Alliance in court when he closed the bear season on state-owned land. Expert testimony in that case, which went unrefuted by the state and animal-rights organizations, predicted a large jump in human-bear conflicts in two years as bear populations would explode with no control mechanism. Almost exactly two years later, and despite throwing millions of taxpayer dollars at non-lethal means of deterrence, Gov. Murphy conceded that a bear hunt was necessary to protect the citizens of his state.
“Murphy learned the hard way that his constituents were severely imperiled by ending the bear hunt. However, the governor, when his political aspirations had ended, at least had the common sense to reverse course and admit that the science was sound and New Jersey citizens were in danger under these policies,” said Adkins. “Radical activists have no such desire to protect human life, and their actions are dictated only by the fundraising they bring in.”
The animal-rights advocates claim that the state abused their power when using an “emergency loophole” while also questioning the very science that proved itself out over the course of the hunt closure. Their most egregious claim, however, might be that citizens are in no danger when it comes to bear conflicts, which even mainstream media and a simple online search refute with examples such as this one in Rockaway in 2014 and again in 2019, in Sussex County, as well as in Franklin Township.
About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
