spectr17
08-25-2001, 02:56 PM
The Associated Press August 24, 2001
Updated at 11:50 a.m.
CLOUDCROFT, N.M. (AP) - The New Mexico Game Commission has given hunters an extra two weeks to kill black bears this fall, but fell short of approving a spring season that sportsmen also wanted. Hunters said at the commission's meeting in Cloudcroft Thursday that more hunting should be allowed to kill ``problem'' bears that have wandered into homes and residential areas in recent weeks.
But conservationists said that increased hunting would not help reduce encounters between bears and humans. Teaching people to put garbage in bear-proof containers and other safety measures is the answer, they said.
The commission's unanimous vote to extend the hunting season comes the same day as funeral arrangements were made for 93-year-old Adelia Trujillo who was fatally mauled by a bear in her rural northern New Mexico home.
The commission was already considering expanding the bear hunting season before the recent spate of bears breaking into homes in search of food and several attacks on humans. But the busy bear season strengthened the arguments of those who wanted a longer bear hunting season.
``This is super bad news,'' Jan Hayes of Sandia Mountain Bear Watch said after the meeting.
The commission will take up more changes to the bear-hunting rules at its next meeting in September, when results of a 10-year bear study by the New Mexico Game and Fish Department will be released.
Ron Skinner, a Tijeras hunter and taxidermist, asked the commission to add a spring hunt and a summer pursuit season to give hunters who use hounds a chance to practice chasing bears up trees without killing them.
``We're seeing bears in our trash cans,'' he said. ``They're breaking into our homes, being hit on the highways.''
But Game and Fish Department staff said in a report to the commission, ``there is little evidence of a positive association between a spring harvest and reduced bear problems during summer.''
Environmentalists said a spring hunt would be unfair to the bears because they are just coming out of hibernation and are underweight and tender-footed. Mothers and cubs would be particularly vulnerable, they said.
Broadfoot Taylor of Alamogordo said he opposes the idea of a spring hunt or pursuit season.
``I'm concerned that you're increasing the take on bears because of the media attention on bears in recent months and not because it's ecologically responsible,'' he said.
The fall bear-hunting season will now run from Sept. 1 through Dec. 15.
Updated at 11:50 a.m.
CLOUDCROFT, N.M. (AP) - The New Mexico Game Commission has given hunters an extra two weeks to kill black bears this fall, but fell short of approving a spring season that sportsmen also wanted. Hunters said at the commission's meeting in Cloudcroft Thursday that more hunting should be allowed to kill ``problem'' bears that have wandered into homes and residential areas in recent weeks.
But conservationists said that increased hunting would not help reduce encounters between bears and humans. Teaching people to put garbage in bear-proof containers and other safety measures is the answer, they said.
The commission's unanimous vote to extend the hunting season comes the same day as funeral arrangements were made for 93-year-old Adelia Trujillo who was fatally mauled by a bear in her rural northern New Mexico home.
The commission was already considering expanding the bear hunting season before the recent spate of bears breaking into homes in search of food and several attacks on humans. But the busy bear season strengthened the arguments of those who wanted a longer bear hunting season.
``This is super bad news,'' Jan Hayes of Sandia Mountain Bear Watch said after the meeting.
The commission will take up more changes to the bear-hunting rules at its next meeting in September, when results of a 10-year bear study by the New Mexico Game and Fish Department will be released.
Ron Skinner, a Tijeras hunter and taxidermist, asked the commission to add a spring hunt and a summer pursuit season to give hunters who use hounds a chance to practice chasing bears up trees without killing them.
``We're seeing bears in our trash cans,'' he said. ``They're breaking into our homes, being hit on the highways.''
But Game and Fish Department staff said in a report to the commission, ``there is little evidence of a positive association between a spring harvest and reduced bear problems during summer.''
Environmentalists said a spring hunt would be unfair to the bears because they are just coming out of hibernation and are underweight and tender-footed. Mothers and cubs would be particularly vulnerable, they said.
Broadfoot Taylor of Alamogordo said he opposes the idea of a spring hunt or pursuit season.
``I'm concerned that you're increasing the take on bears because of the media attention on bears in recent months and not because it's ecologically responsible,'' he said.
The fall bear-hunting season will now run from Sept. 1 through Dec. 15.