Deadline for public comments is March 13, 2010
 
Every year, more than 2,000 bears are legally killed by hunters across California, with the most bears killed in Siskiyou, Trinity, Humboldt, Shasta, and Tulare counties. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 black bears are legally hunted each year in the US and Canada, while an unknown number are also illegally poached. Shockingly, it is legal for trophy hunters in California to chase bears with packs of hounds.

To make matters worse, the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) has proposed dramatically expanding bear hunting across the state. In a document obtained by Big Wildlife, the CDFG has recommended: increasing the hunt quota from 1,700 to 2,500 bears or eliminating a cap altogether and expanding hunting into other areas of the state. The agency also plans to allow the use of global positioning system (GPS) collars and treeing switches on dogs while bear hunting. (A treeing switch alerts hunters when hounds have chased a bear up a tree.)

Click here to read the CDFG proposals.

If these proposals are adopted, bears will have virtually have no escape.

The California Fish and Game Commission will ultimately decide to accept or reject the CDFG's proposals. In our comments to the Commission, Big Wildlife has urged the Commission to reject the CDFG proposals and to ban bear hunting across California. We urge you to help end bear hunting in the state.
 
Click this link to watch video of bear hunt with hounds. Warning: video is graphic and disturbing.
 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Urge the California Fish and Game Commission to ban bear hunting in California. See our sample letter below.
 
To contact the California Fish and Game Commission:
Email: fgc@fgc.ca.gov
Phone:
Fax: (916) 653-5040
 
Mailing address:
California Fish and Game Commission
1416 Ninth Street
P.O. Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090
 
SAMPLE LETTER TO COMMISSION
DATE
 
Dear California Fish and Game Commission:
 
I understand the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) will consider changes to the state’s mammal hunting regulations. As part of that process, I urge the Commission to reject the California Department of Fish and Game's plans to expand bear hunting across the state. Instead, I encourage the Commission to immediately adopt new regulations banning the hunting of black bears throughout California. Specifically, I urge the Commission to ban bear hunting in California because:
 
Trophy hunting puts additional pressures on bears, who face a host of increasing threats from poaching, habitat fragmentation and destruction, human encroachment into wildlife areas, aggressive government lethal control programs, and climate change.
 
State wildlife officials have failed to assess the impacts of poaching. Illegal killing of bears has increased globally, fueled by a booming international market, for bear parts, especially bear gallbladders used in traditional Asian medicine and bear paws, considered a delicacy in soup. Bear gallbladders can go for $5,000 a pound, an enticing price that has spurred bear poaching in California. Poaching of wildlife has become epidemic across the state. Violations rose from 6,538 in 2003 to 17,840 in 2007. The illegal sale of California wildlife and wildlife parts generates an estimated $100 million a year, second only to the illegal drug trade, according to California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) officials. Yet, the state has just 358 game wardens patrolling 300,000 square miles of land and water. It makes no sense to permit bear hunting when state wildlife law enforcement capabilities are so crippled.
 
Trophy hunting ignores the ecological value of bears. Apex species, such as bears, cougars, and wolves, play critical roles in maintaining ecosystems. Black bears often scavenge for food, playing an important role in recycling carrion. Bears also help transport berry seeds. Along salmon spawning streams, bear scat and the remains of fish carried into the woods contribute to the long-term nutrient cycle in old-growth forest. Even cambium feeding by bears, which sometimes kills trees, creates widely scattered snags that benefit other species of wildlife.
 
The state has failed to assess the impacts of annual increases in bears killed by hunters. According to CDFG data, the number of bears killed legally by hunters has steadily increased well beyond the agency's own 1,700 annual season limit. Yet, the CDFG has yet to analyze how these dramatic increases have affected state and local bear populations, behavior, social structure, reproduction, and cubs.
 
Hunting black bears is cruel, unethical, and environmentally harmful. In California, bears can be legally chased by hounds, treed, and then shot by hunters. Hounds have been known to pursue bears with cubs, increasing the risk that cubs could be separated from their mothers, then orphaned. It is not uncommon for hounds to maim bears, especially cubs, and even more common for bears to maim or kill an entire pack of dogs. In addition, hounds may pursue non-targeted animals, including imperiled species, putting additional stress on those species. Bears can also be killed with bow and arrow, which studies reveal produce an unacceptably high wounding rate.
 
Again, please end this cruel and inhumane “sport” in California. Instead of permitting bears to be shot for trophies, the state should strengthen safeguards for these magnificent animals. Thank you.
 
Sincerely,
 
YOUR NAME
ADDRESS
PHONE
EMAIL
 

Interactions between people and black bears have increased in recent years, due largely to human encroachment into bear habitat, population growth, and other dramatic changes to the environment. Suburban neighborhoods, especially those adjacent to forest habitat, are ideal habitats for bears because they offer food, water, and shelter.

Bears are here to stay. We must learn to peacefully co-exist with our wild neighbors, as this is their home as much as ours. This requires modifying our own behavior so as not to attract or incite unwanted guests. Communities need to take preventive action to head off conflicts by providing information about living with bears to new residents, homeowner associations, schools, and businesses.

Those living in bear country can take these simple and humane steps to prevent conflicts with bears:
· Secure garbage cans and compost piles and clean up fallen fruit.
· Keep animals in at night.
· Don't leave dog or cat food outside.
· Walk your dog on a leash.
· If approached by a bear, make loud noises and make yourself look big. Show your dominance and re-instill the bears natural fear of humans.

A disturbing number of grizzly bears are being shot as so-called "control kills" in the Bella Coola valley on British Columbia's central coast. Records obtained from the provincial Ministry of Environment show that 18 grizzlies were killed as "problem bears" from 2007-2008. The majority of these grizzlies were killed because of irresponsible human behavior – primarily, a failure to secure bear attractants. For example, one local resident left a tub of salmon on his deck and then killed a female grizzly and her two cubs when they tried to eat the fish. Another resident, who was "not into removing" the apples from his tree, killed a grizzly for feeding on the fruit.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
*Urge the BC Minister of Environment to make existing laws addressing the issues of bear attractants enforceable and provide sufficient government funding for conservation enforcement and bear smart education.

BC Minister of Environment contact information:
The Honourable Barry Penner
Minister of Environment
PO Box 9047
STN PROV GOVT
Victoria BC
V8W 9E2

Email: env.minister@gov.bc.ca
Phone:
Fax: 250 387-1356

SAMPLE LETTER TO MINISTER:
Dear Minister Penner,

A disturbing number of grizzly bears are being shot as so-called "control kills" in the Bella Coola valley on BC’s central coast. Records obtained from the provincial Ministry of Environment show that 18 grizzlies were killed as "problem bears" over the course of 200 and 2008. The majority of these grizzlies were killed because of irresponsible human behavior - primarily, a failure to secure bear attractants. For example, one local resident left a tub of salmon on his deck and then killed a female grizzly and her two cubs when they tried to eat the fish. Another resident, who was "not into removing" the apples from his tree, killed a grizzly for feeding on the fruit.

The BC government needs to reform existing laws under the Wildlife Act that address the issue of bear attractants to actually make them enforceable.  The BC government must also help communities in bear habitat implement bear-proof waste management systems. And it needs to reinstate recently slashed provincial funding for bear smart programs. Taking such measures will ensure greater safety for people and bears.

Sincerely,
YOUR NAME, CONTACT INFORMATION HERE