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April 21, 2009
COUNTY BEAR HUNTING PROPOSAL
SHOT DOWN!
Bears Get a Reprieve as Commission Decides to
Postpone Vote
in Response to Overwhelming Public Concern
Sacramento, Calif. – This morning, the California
Fish & Game Commission unanimously voted to withdraw its
scheduled vote on two proposals to dramatically expand bear
hunting throughout the state. One proposal would have permitted
bear hunting in San Luis Obispo County for the first time
ever. The other proposal would have lifted all numerical limits
to bear hunting statewide.
photo by Norbert Rosing,
National Geographic
“Thanks to the Commission’s decision not to adopt
this controversial proposal, black bears will continue to have
the freedom to roam in San Luis Obispo County,” said Jeff Kuyper,
executive director of Los Padres ForestWatch, a nonprofit
organization that led efforts to defeat the San Luis Obispo
County proposal. “We applaud Fish & Game for stepping back and
taking a closer look at this misguided plan.”
Both proposals were met with widespread
opposition from a broad coalition of organizations throughout
the state. A majority of the County’s Board of Supervisors wrote
letters to the Commission opposing the bear hunt, along with
several City Council members. More than forty organizations
joined in submitting a comment letter, and hundreds of concerned
residents wrote and called the Commission urging them not to
allow the hunt.
Last week, ForestWatch submitted a
detailed, 94-page critique of the bear hunt proposal and the
associated Negative Declaration (ND). ForestWatch retained Dr.
Rick Hopkins, a professional wildlife biologist with Live Oak
Associates, to review the Fish and Game proposal. ForestWatch
also retained wildlife attorney Bill Yeates, of the Sacramento
firm Kenyon Yeates, to evaluate whether the ND contained
sufficient information to comply with our state's preeminent
environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act.
"In light of the lack of
information provided by CDFG about the existing black bear
population in San Luis Obispo County, I believe that the harvest
of up to 50 black bears in San Luis Obispo County may have a
significant effect on the environment," concluded Dr. Hopkins.
The Department of Fish & Game first announced the
hunting expansion proposals in February, estimating that as many
as 50 bears would be hunted and killed each year in San Luis
Obispo County, primarily in the Los Padres National Forest. But
the Department did not base its recommendation on a reliable DNA
population study that would have estimated the number of black
bears in San Luis Obispo County. Instead, it only relied on a
“bait station study” that showed where bears were located, not
how many. The proposal also failed to evaluate the impact of the
hunt on the local black bear population.
What's Next
At
today’s hearing, the Fish & Game Department said that it would
spend the next few months gathering additional information in
response to issues outlined in the ForestWatch letter and other
public testimony. The Department may resubmit both bear hunting
proposals to the Commission as part of next year’s re-writing of
the state’s mammal hunting regulations, a process that would
begin in Fall 2009.
ForestWatch will continue to track this process,
demanding the strongest safeguards for black bears in the Los
Padres National Forest every step of the way.
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