Community Corner

Poll: Most N.J. Voters Support Bear-Hunting Season

Bear hunt lasts from Dec. 6 to Dec. 11.

It happens too often for Hopatcong resident Don Frace. He wakes up, looks out the window and sees a bear walking through his backyard.

"We have kids, so we're worried about them approaching us," Frace said.

Frace is like several borough residents interviewed by Hopatcong Patch in light of Fairleigh Dickinson University's latest PublicMind poll, which comes out Monday. The poll finds most New Jersey residents approve of the upcoming bear hunt. Frace and others said they'd support a bear hunt to control the population of the large, furry animal.

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The poll asked voters if they'd approve of the bear hunt "if wildlife scientists conclude that bears are exceeding their recommended habitat limits and are destroying private property." It found 53 percent agreed, 36 percent disagreed and 11 percent were unsure.

Count Hopatcong residents Dave Ammiano and Jimmy Villardo and Nutley resident Otto Claussen, who was at Sunday's Hopatcong Warriors varsity football game watching his granddaughter cheerlead, among those in favor of the bear hunt.

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Ammiano and Claussen also approved of the idea of a bear-hunting season. The poll asked a second version of the question—simply questioning voters on whether they approve or disapprove of a bear-hunting season, but without mentioning the opinion of wildlife experts. FDU reports 49 percent approve and 33 percent disapproved while 18 percent were unsure if they'd approve.

Villardo said he'd lean toward a bear-hunting season, but preferred a smaller amount of time. "Maybe a bear-hunting weekending or something," he said. "But I don't know if we need a whole season."

Claussen said a bear-hunting season would go great lengths to control bear population. He likened their emergence to that of deer, another animal many believe have a population that's grown too large in the state.

"Bear hunting is not just something people think about every day in the most densely populated state in the country," said Peter Woolley, a political scientist and director of the poll. "Many people will decide their views based on whether they think it is a necessity rather than recreation."

The 2010 black bear hunting season is Dec. 6 to 11. Any participant must  complete a bear training seminar and possess a Black Bear Hunting Area permit for one of the state's four bear hunting zones, all north of Route 78 and west of Route 287; no hunter can receive a permit for more than one zone. Each hunter has a bag limit of one black bear. More information is available from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

In the FDU poll, men were found to be twice as likely as women to approve of bear hunting. Men approved by a wide margin either way the question was asked (64-28 and 61-24), while women split on the questions either way they were asked (44-43 and 38-41).

Voters under 30 disapproved by a margin of 2-1, but voters older than 60 approved by a margin of 2-1.

Voters in the most rural parts of the Garden State were more likely to approve of a bear hunt than people in more developed parts of the state. In the northwest (Sussex, Hunterdon, Warren, Morris and Somerset counties) and south (Cape May, Atlantic, Cumberland, Gloucester, Camden and Salem counties), voters approved by margins of 2-1.

The Fairleigh Dickinson University poll of 831 registered voters statewide was conducted by telephone, including both landlines and cell phones, from Oct. 4 through Oct. 10, 2010. At random, half of respondents (423) were asked one version of the question about approving or disapproving of bear hunting and half (408) were asked another version. The margin of error for each group is plus or minus five percentage points.


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