Black Bear Birth Control

After seeing a baby black bear as roadkill on my way to work the other day, I think I've finally made up my mind about which side of the bear hunt debate I'm on.

Black bears are beautiful and innocent creatures and I don't wish to see them violently murdered. However, I do agree that New Jersey's black bear population is way out of control and something needs to be done about it starting now.

What I would like to see put into place is a sterilization program. Just as feral cat colonies are controlled with trap/neuter/return programs, the black bear population should be restrained via birth control. It is humane and it will work.

Members of both sides of the bear hunt debate will get their way....population control plus humane treatment. It's a win-win solution. Except for the trophy hunters...

NJ 2009-2010 Black Bear Hunt

With Corzine still in office until the end of the year, there will be no bear hunt in New Jersey for the remainder of 2009.

Governor-elect Chris Christie has openly stated that he supports the idea of a bear hunt.

NJ Herald: Do you support a bear hunt?" Christie: "Yes." (NJ Herald, November 1, 2009)

That statement alone does not officially mean that there will be a New Jersey bear hunt in 2010, but...

"With the election of Chris Christie as governor, the state Fish and Game Council is redrafting a black bear policy which 'we hope to have on the desk of the new (DEP) commissioner when he or she takes office in January,' said Len Wolgast, a council member and author of the council's past proposed bear policies" (NJ Herald, November 13, 2009).

I personally agree that New Jersey's black bear population is out of control and something needs to be done about it, but...

I prefer a humane way to control the population...a sterilization program. Just as feral cat colonies are controlled with trap/neuter/return programs, the black bear population should be restrained via birth control. It is humane and it will work.

With a sterilization program, members of both sides of the bear hunt debate will get their way....population control plus humane treatment. It's a win-win solution. Except for the trophy hunters...

References:

http://www.njherald.com/story/news/13BEARREPORT-web

http://groups.google.com/group/sussex-county-gop/attach/743a468e749575c7/Christie+Endorsement+NJ+Herald.pdf?part=7

The Economics of New Jersey Bear Management

I find myself wondering about the economics of bear management in New Jersey. The intense bear hunt debate has one side touting the effectiveness and ease of a hunt, and the other side claiming that enforcement of trash management and increased education is all that is required.

As I've stated, I'm currently neutral (a.k.a. undecided) as to which side of the hunt fence I'm on, but right now I'm just curious as to the economic effects of either side. Now I'm no expert on how state funding works exactly, but after reading an article on the regulations involved in previous New Jersey bear hunts (see link below), I realize that there must be administrative costs involved. There was a mandatory seminar given by the Division of Fish & Wildlife that hunters needed to take in order to get a permit. Then, of course, there is the administrative cost of processing permits, as well as the running of the checking stations, and statistical analysis of the hunt's results. And there are local law enforcement or park services costs involved as well.

A forum post on GunBroker.com (see link below) cites Environmental Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell as claiming that the 2003 hunt cost the DEP more than $150,000, not counting park services overtime costs. So obviously it costs a lot of money to facilitate a hunt; however, the counter-argument made by pro-hunt advocates such as blogger Mike D. of Bearhunt.com is that the state could easily generate revenue to offset those costs via licensing and permit fees.

The other side of the fence includes less concrete costs. Educational initiatives and enforcement of bear-related regulations have costs that vary and can be difficult to estimate and analyze. It's hard to guess how much it would cost local law enforcement and the legal system to process an increased yet undetermined amount of citations for failure to follow bear management regulations. And there doesn't seem to be an easy way to apply the law of supply and demand to generate revenue to offset education and law enforcement costs. In the case of the hunt, it is easy to supply a limited number of permits, which creates a high demand, and in turn allows the state to charge whatever they need to (within reason) to recoup costs. On the education/management side, there is not a demanded product involved, so revenue would be harder to generate.

Again, I am undecided on the hunt debate and there are obviously many more factors involved besides money. The conflicting concerns of human safety and the humane treatment of animals hold the most weight in this debate; however, I feel that economic intelligence should be applied to any attempted solution to New Jersey's Bear Management issue.

References:

Bearhunt.com. (2009, June 16). Black Bears and Frogs. Retrieved August 21, 2009, from http://njbearhunt.com/

GunBroker.com. (2004, October 30). NJ: Judge Gives Bear Hunt a Shot. Retrieved August 21, 2009 from http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=130416

Scott's Bait and Tackle. (2006, November 16). Black Bear Information - NJ. Retrieved August 21, 2009 from http://www.scottsbt.com/hunting/huntmisc/bear.htm

Corzine's Perception of Bear Problem is 6.6% Reality

Governor Corzine recently stated that the bear problem is only a problem “if you want to call it that” and that “a lot of the problem is perception”.

The Humane Society confirms that “the exact size of the current population isn't known because…the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has only performed population studies in the western and eastern regions.” These regions encompass 580 of New Jersey’s 8,722 square miles - only 6.6% of the state.

Last year, a third region of 621 square miles was studied, but no statistics have yet been published from that region. Therefore, we still know nothing about the bear population in 93.4% of our state.

Without ample statistics, all that is left is perception, including Corzine’s perception that there is no problem. With so little facts available, government will naturally perceive this issue as smaller than it really is.

No real solution can be developed until the government can see more than 6.6% of the picture. If you are concerned about your safety amongst the bears, write to Governor Corzine and demand that bear population statistics be collected on a much larger scale.

Logically Yours,

Pam T.
Sussex County, NJ
10/19/08

(This article was published in the NJ Herald on 10/26/08: http://www.njherald.com/printerfriendly/Letters1026)

References:

Larson, C. (2007). Persuasion Reception and Responsibility, 11th Edition. Belmont, California: Thomson Wadsworth.

Netstate. (2007). The Geography of New Jersey. Retrieved October 19, 2008, from http://www.netstate.com/states/geography/nj_geography.htm

New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. (2008). Black Bear Research and Management. Retrieved October 19, 2008, from http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/bearfacts_resandmgt.htm

Scruton, B. (2008, September 27). Gov. Corzine: Black Bear Population Not a Problem. Retrieved October 19, 2008, from http://www.njherald.com/story/news/28CORZINE-web

The Associated Press. (2008, February 7). DEP says black bear incidents were up in 2007. Retrieved October 19, 2008, from http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/02/black_bearrelated_incidents_up.html

The Associated Press. (2008, October 6). N.J. bear complaints jump 84 percent in '08. Retrieved October 19, 2008, from http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/nj_bear_complaints_jump_84_per.html

The Humane Society of the United States. (2008). Black Bears and People in New Jersey. Retrieved October 19, 2008, from http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/issues_facing_wildlife/the_problems_and_solutions_for_new_jerseys_black_bear_population/