Unless we speak up right now, our state legislators are poised to approve the recreational hunting of black bears in Connecticut.
The Environment Committee is holding a hearing this Friday, March 10th on Senate Bill 1148, which would establish a lottery to hunt and kill Black Bears.
Use this link and follow the instructions to submit your comments to the Environment Committee in opposition to SB 1148.
This same issue has been raised at the legislature over many years, with hunters seeking open season and unrestricted ability to hunt bears in the deep woods where they naturally live. Hunting has no impact on "nuisance" bears that have been coming into communities to take advantage of easy food sources provided by homeowners.
CTLCV supports non-lethal solutions to address this human-caused problem.
Until recently, our state DEEP has done very little in the area of prevention and public education, and now they insist that hunting is necessary. Furthermore, DEEP has the ability to destroy any bear that comes in conflict with humans. Hunters are simply going into the woods to kill bears for recreation which will not solve the problem of bears habituated to humans.
Hunting bears will also orphan many cubs. DEEP's misguided policies on bear cubs can lead to unnecessary suffering of animals too young to be on their own.
Non-lethal solutions are effective. Our state needs to invest in these solutions and ensure we are taking all the steps necessary to properly manage this important wild species.
Black bears are crucial to the forest ecosystem. They help regulate insect populations, disperse seeds, open canopies, and amend soils. They are slow to reproduce, and their numbers are not large enough to survive a sustained hunt. Studies have shown time and again that it is food availability, not bear population numbers, that cause most negative human-bear interactions.
Submit your comments to the Environment Committee
Thank you for speaking out!
See below for additional instructions or call CTLCV's office at 860-236-5442 if you require further assistance. |
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Paid for by the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters.
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