They would stop the massive clearing of woods to build mcmansions....Northweast Jersey was very rural up to about 10 years ago..they just keep building & building...disrupting the natural habitat of bear, deer and many other animals. New Jersey is fast becoming the "Asphalt State" instead of the Garden State.
Hope everyone involved is ok...but the bear are out there and we need to adjust..children and pets should not be left outside unsupervised.

Subject: WNBC News: First N.J. Bear Hunt Since 1970 Becoming Likely

First N.J. Bear Hunt Since 1970 Becoming Likely

POSTED: 7:48 p.m. EDT May 23, 2003

TRENTON, N.J. -- A West Milford man was bitten by a black bear Friday
afternoon, a day after hundreds of people attended a hearing on plans for New
Jersey's first bear hunt in 33 years.

Rob Skrypek suffered bites to his hand, forearm, upper arm, back and head
after his dog attacked a female bear that strayed into his back yard with a
yearling, West Milford Police Chief James Dykstra said.

Skrypek, who tried to help his dog, was in good condition at Morristown
Memorial Hospital, hospital spokeswoman Gale Chandler said.


It was not immediately known what happened to the dog.

Earlier this week, police in Sparta shot and killed a bear after it swatted a
2-year-old boy, leaving the toddler with a bump on his head. The bear, a
4-year-old female, was shot and killed by police.

Wildlife officials were searching Friday night for the bear that attacked
Skrypek. They planned to kill the animal, a practice wildlife officials have
adopted to deal with aggressive bears.

The incidents in the north Jersey towns of Sparta and West Milford are fuel
for a hot-button topic in New Jersey. In March, the Fish & Wildlife Game
Council proposed a six-day bear hunt, scheduled for Dec. 8-13, to control the
growing bear population. A hunt was proposed three years ago but was called off when
then-Gov. Christie Whitman intervened.

A final vote on the latest proposal is set for July 8, four days after the
public-comment period ends.

A heated public hearing by the game council Thursday night drew 300 people,
and nearly half of them spoke about the hunt proposal. Supporters noted that
bear sightings have increased in recent years, as have reports of bears
wandering into residential neighborhoods.

But animal rights activists and other critics -- many clutching teddy bears
-- said New Jerseyans need to coexist with bears, not hunt them.

Thirty years ago, there were fewer than 100 black bears in New Jersey. The
Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the Division of Fish &
Wildlife, estimates there are now 1,500 to 3,000 bears. Most of them occupy the
northwest part of the state, but officials say bears are moving into Mercer,
Middlesex and Bergen counties.

"They're right up to the edge of New York City," DEP spokesman Jack Kaskey
said.

New Jersey's bear population rebound has made headlines steadily over the
past three years and has caught the eye of documentary producers. The cable TV
network Animal Planet has a production under development, and one has been done
by National Geographic Explorer.

Public expression on the topic has taken many forms. Animal activists have
demonstrated at the Statehouse and sent letters and about 100 stuffed bears to
Gov. James E. McGreevey. The plush toys have been passed along to women's
shelters and hospitals.

Animal activists and other critics question a hunt's effectiveness in
reducing bear-human encounters and suggest the state's bear population figures have
been inflated to justify a hunt.

Activists also complain that state officials have not done enough to pursue
hunt alternatives. Doris Lin, a volunteer at the Bear Education and Resource
Group, said the organization supports the state's exploration of bear
contraception and a recently enacted law against feeding bears.

Wildlife and environmental officials say a bear hunt is only part of a larger
strategy to manage the bruins' rebound.

The state is working with the Humane Society of the United States on the
pilot contraceptive program, and the DEP has federal approval for testing on
captive bears. But any contraceptive use on bears in the wild is several years
away, according to DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell, who believes the
population data support a limited hunt.

The DEP also has stepped up efforts to educate the public, spending $500,000
over the past three years on bear-awareness promotions, including public
service announcements and presentations to state residents.

Campbell has taken a high profile on the matter, leading some public
presentations himself and reserving the authority to halt a bear hunt if he finds it
necessary. He also requested that there be no fee charged for bear-hunting
permits.

Campbell said he felt it was important "to include significant independent
oversight, so some of the issues that undermined public support in the past
wouldn't be an issue."

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I would see that and just fall down with a heart attack

I hope he recovers quickly

We were on the channel 7 news and the New Jersey news channel. Thank you for your kind words.

I hope your friend and the lab recover well. thankfully the kids weren't outside.