Beyond Maine’s border black bears have been in the news a lot lately.

In Pennsylvania, a hunter bagged a black bear this fall that reportedly weighed 871 pounds! And in Western Colorado, Craig resident Richard Kendall bagged a 700-pound black bear, that is, in all probability, a new Colorado state record.

Meantime, in New Jersey, after years of controversy (dithering and indecision by legislators and state officials), the Garden State was finally able to hold a bear hunt – in spite of public protests by the anti-hunting contingent. With a growing population of nuisance black bears, New Jersey wildlife managers had been denied the option of using hunters to control bear numbers since 2005. Politics drove that state’s game management policies, not biology or wildlife ecology. For years, a clueless governor, pandering to his liberal bloc of anti-hunting citizens, refused to allow a bear hunt.

Thankfully that changed with some help from the electoral process. This year’s New Jersey bear hunt was an unqualified success. Incredibly, 267 bears were taken on the first day of the hunt, including a bruin that tipped the scales at 661 pounds! New Jersey wildlife officials never really had much solid data on their state’s bear numbers. They knew, though, from one area study that there were at least 3,500 bears in a 2,000 square mile area in northwestern New Jersey! That’s a lot of bears, especially for a semi-rural area close to urban centers.

What New Jersey wildlife managers learned from the five- day bear hunt is that bear numbers are much higher than originally estimated. This is where it gets interesting when you crunch the numbers. The hunt, which was intended to be a culling exercise, reduced the bear population by nearly 600. Many of these were nuisance bears that had learned not to fear humans and were potentially dangerous to the public. New Jersey expects that 800 bear cubs will be born this winter. Thus, it appears that the bear population will continue to expand despite the first legal culling hunt in six years.

Good wildlife management is a long-term proposition. Therefore, stabilizing the runaway bear population will take some time. But at least New Jersey is on the right track. In the years ahead the challenge for wildlife officials will be to educate the public, as well as manage the bears.

New Jersey’s recent press release is on the mark and reflects a game management philosophy that is too often lost today on an ill-informed urban citizenry that is against bear hunting until its lifestyles, personal property, or safety become an issue.

Explaining that bears have become an increasing public nuisance in small states like Maryland and New Jersey because of shrinking habitat, New Jersey wildlife officials said: “As a result, this mandates that man control the bear population and keep it at a level that is compatible with man, not the other way around. If this is not done, sooner or later it will lead to much more serious problems than we have seen so far. This is why other states use a controlled hunt as part of their bear management plan.”

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal and has written his first book, A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WCME-FM 96.7) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected].