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Black Bears aren’t Celebrities
By Anthony P Mauro, Sr (c) 2011

Conservation Corner w/ Anthony P. Mauro, Sr

USA --(Ammoland.com)- Between the frequent media coverage that black bears receive in New Jersey, and reports of melodramatic behavior by a few bear devotees spouting sensational claims, it seems as if black bears now rank with Real Housewives of New Jersey and Jersey Shore for a share of celebrity status.

But bears are not celebrities and it is detrimental to both bears and people for them to be treated as such.

As much as we enjoy assigning human qualities to bears in cartoons, advertising and Disney theme parks, these unreal depictions act to impede our understanding of the important role bears play in healthy ecosystems and diminish the animal’s significance as a living thing.

Bears rely on instinct to navigate the course of their daily lives, whereas humans use rational thought. These are two distinctly different points of reference and they create wide gaps in our ability to communicate and interpret the intentions the other, which leaves plenty of room for misunderstandings.

Food and fear largely drive the behavior of black bears. These large plantigrades are carnivorous or omnivorous mammals with strong claws. They live in largely forested areas, but will leave forests in search of food. Bears are often attracted to human communities because of the immediate availability of food.

Regarding food, there are currently parts of New Jersey that appear to be experiencing a low producing wild blueberry crop and poor oak mast production. Blueberries and mast are staples of the black bear diet. If we add a possible food shortage to the doubling of the bear population since 2005 we have the formula for increases in bear and human contact and a potential for conflict.

While black bears are shy by nature, and fatal and nonfatal bear attacks are very rare, it would be irresponsible to ignore that attacks occur. In the book, “Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance,” Dr. Stephen Herrero reports that in the period between 1900 and 1980 twenty people were involved in a fatal black bear attack. He reports that of those twenty fatalities, eighteen appear to be from predaceous black bears, meaning, they viewed humans as prey and attacked for food. Since 1980 there have been approximately 32 deaths by black bears – 13 of those occurred since the year 2000.

Recent scientific studies of the history of black bear attacks have revealed that the majority of these strikes have been in areas of expanding population. Scientists speculate that the attacks are a result of a population of black bears coming into contact with humans for the first time.

It is beneficial for both bears and humans that contact is minimized. While bear education programs and secured trash cans are helpful in limiting bear/human conflicts they do nothing to control the expanding bear population. They also do not help to aversively condition bears so that they have a healthy fear of humans.

Dr. Len Wolgast is an expert on black bears. He is Professor Emeritus Wildlife Ecology and Management Rutgers University, was the primary author of the 2005 Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy, and also served as a Fish and Game Council member. Regarding black bear management Dr. Wolgast states:

“New Jersey presently supports a black bear population which far exceeds the number of animals that can exist without causing too many problems for the residents of our state. The only cost effective tool that is available to reduce the bear population to a more tolerable level is hunting. The three most recent New Jersey bear seasons (2003, 2005, and 2010) have occurred under a very conservative format. They were designed to slow the growth of the bear population and gather data. It is my opinion that future bear hunting seasons will need to be designed to reduce the density of New Jersey’s bear population.”

Hunting not only effectively manages bear populations but is a valuable tool for conditioning bears to respect the living space of humans. As with all game, bear is used as a source of food for hunters and their families.

Black bears are magnificent creatures. Decisions made by New Jersey conservationists more than thirty years ago are the basis for today’s flourishing population. But, humans have a history of being unforgiving when one of our own is harmed and we have a responsibility to black bears to ensure that they are not the subject of our reactive and callous natures.

Black bears deserve our awe and respect, but they aren’t celebrities and it is irresponsible to treat them as such.

Color The Green Movement Blue

About:
Anthony P. Mauro, Sr, (also known as “Ant” to friends and associates) is Chairman and co-founder of the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance.

In addition to NJOA, Ant’s commitment to the principles of sustainable use of natural resources and stewardship for the environment helped to found the New Jersey Angling & Hunting Conservation Caucus. The NJAHC is the first outdoor caucus of its kind in New Jersey and is designed to educate opinion leaders and policy makers of the principles of conservation and the benefits that confer to the state’s wildlife and ecology.

A lifelong resident of New Jersey, Ant is an international big game hunter and avid conservationist. He has authored two books on conservation and hunting, including “Color The Green Movement Blue“.

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Conservation at Crossroads: Funding Cuts Could Jeopardize the Future of Hunting

Conservation at Crossroads: Funding Cuts Could Jeopardize the Future of Hunting

Delta Waterfowl

Bismarck, ND --(Ammoland.com)- In recent months the catch-phrase “conservation at a crossroads” has been used to describe the future of our fish and wildlife resources in light of Congressional efforts to cut spending for key programs.

Anyone who’s been paying attention knows there has never been a time conservation wasn’t at a crossroads.

Sixty years ago Aldo Leopold wrote: “Despite nearly a century of propaganda, conservation still proceeds at a snail’s pace. Progress consists largely of letterhead pieties and convention oratory. On the back forty we still slip two steps backward for each forward stride.”

Even in Leopold’s time, each significant victory in the battle to secure conservation programs was inevitably followed by dogged efforts to unravel them.

Conservation is always among the first items to be cut when budgets get tight, and frequently even when they’re not. Congress’ recent effort to prune conservation funding, while no surprise, is none-the-less puzzling because not only will the proposed cuts do almost nothing to reduce the debt, they could actually add to it by stifling economic growth.

Programs that create jobs and have a positive cash flow are worth supporting, and by that metric outdoor recreation is a wise investment. According to the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Activity, annual expenditures for hunting and fishing totaled $76 billion, and the total economic impact of that spending was $192 billion.

Hunting and fishing directly support 1.6 million jobs and generate $11.6 billion in state tax revenues and $14 billion and federal tax revenues.

I’m not suggesting hunting and fishing will disappear if conservation funding takes a hit. They won’t. But critical programs, once they’re lost, are extremely difficult to restore, and over time the impact will be felt.

Congress spends a total of just $5 billion annually on conservation funding, which is about one-eighth of one percent of the federal budget. Putting $192 billion in economic activity at risk to save $5 billion is like shuttering a profitable business because the price of a first-class stamp goes up a penny.

The reductions recommended for the 2011 budget ended up being far less Draconian than first proposed, but we suspect the saber rattling of recent months was the prelude to more drastic measures, and each passing day confirms that fear.

As this is being written, the situation is changing daily, but the latest news from Washington suggests that budget-cutters want to zero out the $47.6 million annual budget for the North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA) and make steep cuts to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

If the U.S. breeding grounds continue to lose CRP and native prairie, duck populations will crash, putting the $2.3 billion waterfowl hunting industry and the almost 28,000 jobs it generates at risk. The prairies are wet today, but eventually they’ll go dry, and without CRP, duck numbers will collapse, and their ability to rebound will be compromised.

The ongoing vilification of conservation will no doubt include renewed attempts to gut the Clean Water Act, along with cuts to federal fish hatcheries, grants to state wildlife agencies and the already-underfunded national wildlife refuge system.

In a 2003 article we reported the refuge system was “on a starvation diet” and was facing a $2 billion backlog in deferred maintenance and operations funding. Today that backlog has grown to $3.7 billion. Some 2.3 million acres are overrun with non-native invasive plants, and some $25 million a year is required to treat just a third of those acres.

Refuges support 27,000 jobs with $543 million in employment income, and attract 41 million visitors who spend nearly $2 billion a year in local communities–that’s four dollars for every dollar invested.

So why would Congress indulge in such short-sighted tomfoolery as to risk $192 billion in economic activity to save $5 billion? Because it can.

Who’s to blame? All of us. From conservation interests that believe white papers and other “letterhead pieties” are sufficient, to outdoor communicators blind to the issues most begging to be communicated, we all share the blame.

Those of us who haven’t taken five minutes to email our Congressional delegation urging support of conservation funding can include ourselves on that list.

Dan Nelson is the outgoing editor of Delta Waterfowl magazine. His column appeared in the summer 2011 issue. Reach him at dnelson@deltawaterfowl.org.

About:
Delta Waterfowl provides knowledge, leaders and science-based solutions that efficiently conserve waterfowl and secure the future for waterfowl hunting. Visit: www.deltawaterfowl.org

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