By Richard Cowen

The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)

HACKENSACK, N.J. – An animal rights activist arrested in Vernon, N.J., on Monday for locking herself inside a bear trap says she’s a prisoner of her own conscience.

“I did the only thing I could do. I followed my conscience,” said Angie Metler on Tuesday. Metler, 47, plans to plead not guilty to one count of obstructing a government function when she appears in Vernon Municipal Court on Aug. 31. She is also accused of trespassing.

In recent weeks, residents living in the Highland Lakes section of Vernon have complained about a female black bear and two cubs invading homes in search of food. Vernon police called in the New Jersey Division of Fish and Game, which in turn set up a barrel trap at the home of Leonard Smith on East Lakeshore Drive.

Metler is a member of the Bear Education And Resource Group of West Milford, which is opposed to hunting and teaches people how to live safely among bears. Metler and another BEAR member, Arlene Goldstein, went to speak to Smith because neighbors had complained that he had been attracting bears for weeks by leaving food on his porch and in his yard to feed wild cats.

Metler said an argument ensued when Smith refused to remove the food. “He didn’t want to do anything,” Metler said. “He just told us to get off the property. I looked at him and I looked at the trap. And then I jumped into the trap.”

Smith filed a trespassing charge against Metler and Goldstein with the Vernon police on Tuesday, police said. He did not return calls seeking comment.

Had the bear been trapped, Fish and Game likely would have destroyed the animal. In New Jersey, if a bear invades a home in search of food, it’s considered a Category 1 offense – meaning the animal poses an immediate threat to humans and thus can be legally destroyed.

Metler jumped inside the large barrel around 3 p.m., and the door immediately locked behind her, police said. She stayed inside for about an hour and a half, until police were summoned. Vernon police had to take apart a piece of the trap to free her.

Vernon Police Chief Roy Wherry estimated there have been about 10 home entries in the Highland Lakes section of Vernon in recent weeks, all believed to be the work of the same female bear. Although no one has been injured during the invasions, Wherry said the safest thing to do was to remove the bear from the neighborhood.

“This wasn’t an indiscriminate thing,” Wherry said about setting the trap. “Fish and Game was looking for a specific bear.”

Wherry said he’d never heard of the state law adopted in 2002 that prohibited feeding of black bears – whether intentionally or unintentionally. The law requires residents to properly maintain their trash and food stores so bears couldn’t get into them – or face a fine of up to $1,000.

Last year, hunters killed 328 black bears in New Jersey’s first bear hunt in 33 years. Although citizen complaints about bears have fallen this year, the state Fish and Game Council voted to hold another bear hunt in December.

Hunters on Tuesday expressed their opposition to her action.

Joe Crouch, the spokesman for the New Jersey chapter of Ted Nugent’s United Sportsmen of America, said there are still too many bears in North Jersey. “The animal rights people are making it look like this was all the homeowners’ fault,” he said. “It’s kind of pathetic.”

Lynda Smith, the director of BEAR, said people have the ability to modify their behavior, not animals. “This is a clear-cut case of a person not making a single effort to bear-proof their property,” she said.