Contact: Brent Miller, Senior Director, Northeastern States Today marks the start of the 6-day bear hunt in the Garden State, a hunt that has been the center of controversy for decades. Earlier this year, an appeals court in the state rejected a lawsuit brought forward by anti-hunting groups attempting to shut down the hunt entirely. The…
By Brett Stayton, Mid-Atlantic States Coordinator The well-documented fight regarding New Jersey’s bear hunting season added another chapter recently as a lawsuit brought forward by anti-hunting groups in the Garden State was rejected by a New Jersey appeals court. The lawsuit challenged provisions approved in 2015 and included in the New Jersey Division of Fish…
By Brett Stayton, Mid-Atlantic States Coordinator With a twist of poetic justice, New Jersey’s contentious bear hunting season was extended earlier this month amidst turmoil, protests, and the Governor openly calling for its cancellation. Governor Phil Murphy issued an executive order in August urging the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to shut down…
By Brett Stayton, Mid-Atlantic States Coordinator On October 15, two bills aimed at further expanding the prohibitions on bear hunting were introduced in the New Jersey State Senate Environment and Energy Committee. Senate bill 3007 would require the New Jersey Fish and Game Council to update the state’s comprehensive black bear management policy on an…
By Brett Stayton, Mid-Atlantic States Coordinator On September 9, Catherine McCabe, the Commissioner of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued an Administrative Order to prohibit the hunting of black bears on all state lands under DEP’s jurisdiction, including state Wildlife Management Areas (WMA). These WMAs are paid for by New Jersey’s sportsmen and…
By Brett Stayton, Mid-Atlantic States Coordinator Several members of the bipartisan and bicameral New Jersey Angling and Hunting Conservation Caucus have spoken out against an executive order signed by Governor Phil Murphy on August 20. The order seeks to prohibit black bear hunting on all land under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Department of…
By Brett Stayton, Mid-Atlantic States Coordinator On April 8, Senator Stephen Sweeney, Co-Chair of the New Jersey Angling and Hunting Conservation Caucus and Senate President, was presented the Conservation Leadership Award by the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance (NJOA) during their 2018 Wild Game dinner. Sen. Sweeney has been one of the Garden States’ strongest advocates…
On February 8, New Jersey Angling and Hunting Conservation Caucus Co-Chair, Assemblyman Burzichelli introduced NJ A 3120, legislation that would authorize Sunday hunting for deer with a firearm on private property. This newly introduced legislation would authorize sportsmen and women in the Garden State to hunt deer on Sundays with a firearm on private property,…
On December 18, the New Jersey Assembly Committee on Appropriations unanimously reported out Assembly Bill 1616, which would authorize the use of tracking dogs to recover lost deer in the Garden State. This bipartisan legislation is sponsored by Co-Chair of the New Jersey Angling and Hunting Conservation Caucus Assemblyman John Burzichelli, and is co-sponsored by…
On December 1, New Jersey became the 47th state to join the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. The idea of this Compact was first advanced in the early 1980s by member states in the west and has since spread across the nation to now include every state except Delaware, Massachusetts, and Hawaii. This Compact will aid…
On February 28, the bipartisan New Jersey Angling, Hunting and Conservation Caucus and the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance hosted their first policy forum of the 2017 legislative session. Over a dozen Caucus Members gathered to discuss legislative priorities for the sportsmen’s community, including two Caucus Co-Chairs, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Senator Steve Oroho. The…
Recently, several anti-sportsmen and anti-scientific management legislative proposals have advanced in the New Jersey Legislature. The bills and resolutions focus on two main areas that have been at the center of public controversy in the Garden State for decades; bear hunting and trapping. Assembly Bill 3527 (companion bill to Senate Bill 2141) would statutorily remove…