FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – APRIL 22, 2022
California Fish & Game Commission Allows Bear Hunting
Petition to Enact a Hunting Moratorium Fails Despite Strong Public Support
Sacramento, Calif. — The California Fish and Game Commission (CFGC) voted 3-0 yesterday to oppose petition 2021/2022-027, which proposed enacting a moratorium on the black bear hunting season.
The petition cited concerns over the state’s black bear population, the lack of science-based management, and an outdated management plan. The decision comes as the CFGC and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) are considering another petition (2021-017) proposing to offer bear hunters that have killed one bear the option of purchasing a second bear tag, with a decision scheduled for later this year.
“This vote ignores public opinion and science-based management principles,” said Michelle Lute, PhD in wildlife conservation and national carnivore conservation manager for Project Coyote. “The Commission’s decision flagrantly disregards the many Californians who consistently speak up to voice their strong opposition to ethically indefensible bear hunting that is also not supported by science. Today, science and democracy died a little more and, as a result, California’s bears will die tomorrow.”
Project Coyote partnered with the Humane Society of the US and BEAR League to galvanize support for the hunting moratorium as well as for banning black bear hunting in the state. Over a thousand Californians sent letters to the CFGC in support of a hunting ban and many attended the Commission’s hybrid public hearing in hopes of testifying on the petition. Experts and members of the public expressed ethical and scientific concerns over black bear hunting.
However, both the Department and the Commission staff recommended the CFGC deny the hunting moratorium, citing ongoing yet incomplete efforts to improve monitoring and dismissing concerns over negative impacts of climate change, poaching and collisions on bears.
The Commission’s decision also ignores current scientific understanding that acknowledges bears as feeling, thinking, self-aware, social beings that undoubtedly value their lives and wellbeing. They contribute community benefits to ecosystems through their ecological effects.
“This decision shows little to no regard for the holistic ethical and scientific case in favor of respecting bears and for reciprocating their contributions to a healthy environment by promoting their wellbeing.” said Francisco J. Santiago-Ávila, science and conservation manager for Project Coyote and The Rewilding Institute. “Instead, the Commission is doubling-down on promoting the dismissal and exploitation of very vulnerable community members – the bears we share our landscapes with – based on outdated prejudices that devalue bears. If sustaining bear killing is their main concern, they are failing all of us: bears, the broad public and nature.”
According to a recent survey, most Californians oppose black bear hunting, and a majority supports the outright ban of black bear hunting. Allowing the killing of bears promotes views that run contrary to ethical coexistence, holistic scientific understanding and the values of most California residents toward cherished wildlife.
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Project Coyote, a fiscally-sponsored project of Earth Island Institute, is a North American coalition of scientists, educators, conservationists, and community leaders promoting compassionate conservation and coexistence between humans and wildlife through education, science and advocacy. Visit ProjectCoyote.org for more information.