New Jersey

[administrator]

June 13, 2007



Assembly Proposes to Alter New Jersey Fish and Game Council



Legislation that will revamp the New Jersey Fish and Game Council will be heard in the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee on June 14. The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and its allies are concerned that such legislation will simplify anti-hunters’ involvement in wildlife decision-making.



Assembly Bill 3275, introduced by Assemblyman Michael Panter, D- Shrewsbury, will change the make up of the Fish & Game Council. It will remove the six sportsmen and three farmers who represent various geographical regions, and replace them with seven appointees recommended by the governor. The bill also directs the council to investigate non-lethal wildlife management options prior to setting hunting, fishing or trapping programs, and removes the council’s authority to consider the use and development of fish and wildlife resources for public recreation and food supply when adopting the State Fish and Game Code.



“We are concerned that this bill will result in the end of hunting in the long run,” said Rick Story, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance senior vice president. “The bill plays into the anti-hunting movement’s hands.”



Assembly Bill 3275 also proposes the transfer of the Division of Fish and Wildlife from the Department of Conservation and Economic Development to the Department of Environmental Protection. If the shift occurs, there is a risk that game management activities will take a back seat to environmental projects, and thus wildlife conservation will suffer.



The Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee hearing is June 14 in Committee Room #9, State House Annex in Trenton. New Jersey sportsmen who cannot attend should contact their Assembly members and voice opposition to AB 3275. It is particularly important to make calls today if your Assembly member is on the Environment and Solid Waste Committee (see list below). Use the Legislative Action Center at www.ussportsmen.org (http://www.ussportsmen.org/) to prepare your message.



Committee Member
Party-Hometown
Phone Number

Assemblyman John McKeon, Chairman
D-South Orange
(973) 275-1113

Assemblyman Robert Gordon, Vice-Chair
D-Fair Lawn
(201) 703-9779

Assemblyman Larry Chatzidakis
R-Mt. Laurel
(856) 234-8080

Assemblyman Charles Epps, Jr.
D-Jersey City
(201) 200-1820

Assemblyman Louis Manzo
D-Jersey City
(201) 309-0770

Assemblyman Michael Panter
D-Shrewsbury
(732) 544-2116

Assemblyman John Rooney
R-Emerson
(201) 967-8910




The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organization that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website, www.ussportsmen.org (http://www.ussportsmen.org/).

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Anti-Hunters Ousted on Election Day
New Jersey sportsmen send lawmakers packing
November 9, 2007 (New Jersey)



New Jersey sportsmen demonstrated their political clout on Election Day by throwing out two incumbent lawmakers who have repeatedly attacked the state’s hunting traditions.

On Nov. 6, sportsmen made their way to the polls and soundly defeated state Sen. Ellen Karcher, D-Freehold, and Assemblyman Mike Panter, D-Shrewsbury. The anti-hunting lawmakers have sponsored legislation that will remove sportsmen and biologists from the Fish and Game Council and allow anti-hunting political appointees to take their place. Panter has also sponsored legislation that would ban bear hunting, fund the animal rights agenda and strip the New Jersey Fish and Game Commission of its management authority. The legislation has become a rallying cry for sportsmen to better organize to defend themselves.

“New Jersey sportsmen demonstrated that the hunting community has the numbers to affect elections and influence policy,” said USSA President Bud Pidgeon. “Hats off to New Jersey sportsmen who pulled together to send a message that our community will not stand idle while lawmaker attack the traditions of law-abiding sportsmen.”

In the weeks leading up to the election, New Jersey sportsmen mobilized to protest the bill that will change the make up of the Fish and Game Council, AB 3275. The sportsmen’s voice was heard by one of the bill’s co-sponsors, Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, D-Monroe. She withdrew her support of the bill.

New Jersey sportsmen should continue asking their Assemblymen to oppose AB 3275, which awaits an Assembly floor vote. Let them know the bill will lead to the collapse of hunting and wildlife conservation in the state. Call (609) 292-4840 or use the Legislative Action Center at www.ussportsmen.org.

[administrator]

Anti-Hunters Ousted on Election Day
New Jersey sportsmen send lawmakers packing

November 9, 2007 (New Jersey)



New Jersey sportsmen demonstrated their political clout on Election Day by throwing out two incumbent lawmakers who have repeatedly attacked the state’s hunting traditions.

On Nov. 6, sportsmen made their way to the polls and soundly defeated state Sen. Ellen Karcher, D-Freehold, and Assemblyman Mike Panter, D-Shrewsbury. The anti-hunting lawmakers have sponsored legislation that will remove sportsmen and biologists from the Fish and Game Council and allow anti-hunting political appointees to take their place. Panter has also sponsored legislation that would ban bear hunting, fund the animal rights agenda and strip the New Jersey Fish and Game Commission of its management authority. The legislation has become a rallying cry for sportsmen to better organize to defend themselves.

“New Jersey sportsmen demonstrated that the hunting community has the numbers to affect elections and influence policy,” said USSA President Bud Pidgeon. “Hats off to New Jersey sportsmen who pulled together to send a message that our community will not stand idle while lawmakers attack the traditions of law-abiding sportsmen.”

In the weeks leading up to the election, New Jersey sportsmen mobilized to protest the bill that will change the makeup of the Fish and Game Council, AB 3275. The sportsmen’s voice was heard by one of the bill’s co-sponsors, Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, D-Monroe. She withdrew her support of the bill.

New Jersey sportsmen should continue asking their Assemblymen to oppose AB 3275, which awaits an Assembly floor vote. Let them know the bill will lead to the collapse of hunting and wildlife conservation in the state. Call (609) 292-4840 or use the Legislative Action Center at www.ussportsmen.org.

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Anti-Hunting Activist Charged for Feeding Bears


April 23, 2008

Susan Kehoe, a New Jersey anti-hunting activist, has been charged for deliberately feeding bears.

Kehoe has in the past presented herself as a member and leader of Bear Education and Resource (BEAR), a group that protested New Jersey bear hunts in 2003 and 2005. The group blames humans and their improperly secured garbage for the state’s bear troubles.

She denies the claims that she has been feeding the bears and now says she is not a member or a leader of the group and does not pay dues to the organization.

According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Kehoe was videotaped providing bags of sunflower seeds to bears in her backyard.

After receiving tips from several neighbors that Kehoe was feeding the bears, Department officials began investigating and say that conservation officers have repeatedly watched her feed bears since late March.

The charge of creating a public nuisance is a disorderly persons offence that carries a maximum penalty of a fine of $1,500 and a presumption against jail time. There is also a 2002 state law banning the feeding of bears that includes a $1,000 fine, but Kehoe received only a warning under that regulation because the wording stipulates that a warning must be given before a fine can be levied.