New Jersey Bill Would Turn Fish And Game Into The Humane Society
February 5, 2008
A new bill sponsored by Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone (AB1202) is remarkable piece of proposed legislation. It tips the scales far beyond anything that I can recall ever presented before a state to consider. This bill, if passed, would give sole authority of fish and game issues to the head of the Department of Environmental Protection. It would move the fish and game council out of the Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife and put under the complete control of the DEP Commissioner.
The same bill would provide that the Commissioner then can pick and choose, shut down or open any and all hunting and fishing seasons, set bag limits, etc. without anyone else’s approval.
But get this. The 13-member fish and game council which is a part of the Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife, as proposed by this bill, would now run by the DEP Commissioner and would be comprised of members with the following make up:
One person will be the Commission of DEP.
A second member will be the chairman of the council “of the committee established pursuant to section 7 of “The Endangered and Nongame Species Conservation Act,” P.L.1973, c.309 (C.23:2A-7)”
Two members will be farmers, recommended to the governor via the agriculture industry.
Two members will be sportsmen as recommended by the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs.
Two members will be “individuals with experience in environmental protection, recommended to the Governor for appointment to the council by the New Jersey Environmental Federation.”
And five members will be “individuals with experience in environmental protection or other fields relevant to animal welfare and with a background in the preservation of wildlife, recommended to the Governor for appointment to the council by the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance, The Bear Education and Resource Group, and the Humane Society of the United States, and chosen with due consideration to achieve balanced geographic representation of all regions of the State.”
So there you have it. Sportsmen, who for decades have funded and ran the fish and game, would be under this bill, relegated to a 2-person representation of a 13-member panel basically dominated by animal rights and animal protection groups and environmentalists dead set against hunting, fishing and trapping.
The bill also seems to focus on giving the Commissioner the authority to stop any and all seasons on any game and substitute it with other “nonlethal” means of wildlife management, at the commissioner’s discretion.
The make-up proposed in this bill is completely absurd and I believe is a reflection of the societal problems that face the state of New Jersey. It is expedient that everyone notify their representatives and tell them that the Humane Society of the United States, et. al. cannot be the managers of New Jersey’s wildlife.
There is simply no way that this bill should ever make it out of committee.
Tom Remington
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[...] Black Bear Blog - Black Bear Blog is for hunters, fishermen, and outdoor enthusiasts. wrote an interesting post today on New Jersey Bill Would Turn Fish And Game Into The Humane SocietyHere’s a quick excerpt A new bill sponsored by Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone (AB1202) is remarkable piece of proposed legislation. It tips the scales far beyond anything that I can recall ever presented before a state to consider. This bill, if passed, would give sole authority of fish and game issues to the head of the Department of Environmental Protection. It would move the fish and game council out of the Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife and put under the complete control of the DEP Commissioner. The same bil [...]
This bill is utterly amazing. I hope that thing never makes it out of committee. I can’t believe it has even come to fruition quite frankly.
Who do we need to contact in order to voice our displeasure. I would be happy to send something their way in though I don’t live in New Jersey.
New Jersey never quits. It seems that there is something going on there all the time, and the sportsmen get the raw end of the deal. I just hope our NJ friends don’t give up, as they are being bombarded day after day!
[...] being placed on non lethal control by creating a special committee to address these issues. Tom over at the Black Bear Blog had a post about this alerting me and I’m sure many others to this issue. Now two members will be [...]
Tom, thanks for posting all these stories on your blog. There is an occassional story that doesn’t mingle with the basic premise of most of them, and that is that our basic rights are being infringed upon or someone is trying to take them away. First off, how can we affect what’s happening is NJ? This legislation, if passed would be devastating to hunting in NJ. This would set a precedent and serve as a launching pad for “greeny goobers” to do the same thing in every state.
I grew up in mountains around the Boise Idaho area, and to be honest, I WOULD NOT give up that experience for anything. I learned to hunt, fish and just watch and experience “nature” in its purest form. We can not forget, that we as humans are part of nature and always have been. Humans all over this planet have always hunted, gathered, cultivated, and hearded since we’ve been here. We as humans, have all the knowledge needed to manage our renewable resources (animals, trees, wind power, hydro-power, etc.) compitently, and still there is a world wide push to halt use of some of these resources.
There was a comment in one of your other stories by a guy, who breifly mentioned Aldo Leopold. Leopold pretty much estabolished the the “bible” of wildlife conservation. Our biologists use his studies and quote from him all the time, so why is it they don’t acually implement his findings in real life? One such issue is about the predator to prey ratio betwee the cougar and mule deer (its primary prey). Leopold stated that a healthy ratio of cat to deer is 1 to 360 and this ratio will keep a healthy deer population. If Idaho has well over 2000 cats, then we should have over a million mule deer, if the herds are to maintain a healthy level. If you live and or hunt in Idaho, you know there is nowhere near a healthy cat to dear ratio. If these biologists claim to be for true biodiversity and healthy populations, why don’t they eliminate a portion of our cats to restore a healthy mule deer population?
Paul - You asked “Our biologists use his studies and quote from him all the time, so why is it they don’t acually implement his findings in real life?”
One of the problems is that these biologists, who may or may not use Leopold’s work, are being taught in an age that thinks that “natural” wildlife management works.
It’s tough enough when you have animal advocates who think Mother Nature can handle all this just fine, but with more and more of our biologists buying into the fairly tale, it’s an even bigger task.
New Jersey is in trouble. The urban populations far outnumber the rural and are winning the vote. Typically these people don’t understand wildlife or the importance of good management. Again, their idea is to let the animals alone and find non lethal means of dealing with them.
There are examples of places that have tried this and now they are dealing with the messes they have created.
One small example is in the state of Washington. Several years ago, the people voted and said they didn’t want mountain lions hunted so much. Now, fish and game are asking that they be given permission to increase lion hunting even with hounds because of the problems they now face with an overgrown population of cats.
I’ll put together some contact information for anyone wishing to send an email, make a phone call, etc. and I’ll post it up as a separate blog today.
[...] Comments joedy cook: hi my name is joedy cook imTom Remington: Paul - You asked “Our biologists useJim Richards: Tom Yes we hunt Lions with dogsTom Remington: Jim - Does your outfit hunt lionspaul: [...]
As a Jersey fisherman, I can tell you that the proposed law is dead in the water, due to the outrage by NJ hunters and fisherman that cost at least two State congressmen their jobs.
http://blog.nj.com/njv_scott_bach/2007/11/dont_mess_with_the_sportsmen.html
However, the anti-hunting/anti-fishing element in Gov. Corzine’s administration is still going strong, and I personally blame them for delaying fishing regulations being published until this week. Even our former US Senator has been taken in by the antis: http://www.politickernj.com/torricelli-deer-hunting-14743
[...] A New Jersey bill could put the power of managing the state’s fish and game into the hands of animal rights groups and animal welfare groups (like HSUS). The bill proposes that 2 representatives representing hunting and fishing groups be allowed to take part while the other 11 members come from non-hunting/fishing groups like, the above mentioned animal, rights groups. Read more about it at the Black Bear Blog. [...]