S2369, sponsored by Senator Raymond Lesniak, (D-20), is
especially important legislation. Bear Smart legislation corrects the state's
signal failure to organize, implement, and enforce non-lethal solutions
preferred by 74% of New Jersey voters.
We all know the terrible cruelty, and sadness, of New
Jersey's now annual bear hunt, or bait and shoot. Hunters bait mothers and cubs
with pastries and other foods, using trail cameras to monitor the bears' every
movement. The bloodied bodies of cubs, mere babies, and their mothers hauled in
to the weigh stations have become a news staple during the week-long December
kills. The tragedy is that the killing is utterly unnecessary.
Human-derived foods, be they unsecured trash or bait for
bear and deer, condition bears to associate food with humans and lead to the
very conflicts the state hunting agency claims baiting and hunting
alleviate.
Please
contact your legislator today. Find your legislator here.
Your message is
simple: Ask your legislator to co-sponsor Senator
Raymond Lesniak's Bear Smart legislation (S2369) to require bear-resistant trash
containers and disallow baiting in bear habitat. Remind your legislators that 74% of
New Jersey voters, in all geographic regions, prefer non-lethal
solutions.
Bring friends, colleagues,
and neighbors into the process. Asking one, two, or
three other people to contact the Senator has a multiplier effect.
S2369 incorporates recommendations based on the best
science and recommended by leading experts. The bill:
- Requires campgrounds, closed communities and bear-area municipalities to institute and enforce meaningful bear-resistant trash bi8n and dumpster programs.
- Addresses intentional baiting of bear and deer that food conditions bears and contributes to human-bear conflict.
To become more
involved in this and other humane legislation, please contact us at info@lohvnj.org.
Remember, telephone calls and e-mails work.
Sincerely,
Susan
Russell
Co-Director
League
of Humane Voters - New Jersey
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