The Associated Press
January 16, 2004

Bear management plans include both hunting and protection

By DAVID DISHNEAU, Associated Press Writer

HAGERSTOWN, Md.

   A draft plan for managing Maryland's black bears over the next 10 years
includes both hunting them and protecting more habitat for what state wildlife
professionals call a "truly charismatic species."

   The two-track approach "is perhaps the strongest evidence that we have a
sincere interest in maintaining the black bear as an important part of our
ecological landscape," Paul Peditto, director of the Department of Natural
Resources' Wildlife and Heritage Service, said Friday.

   But The Fund for Animals, a national wildlife protection group, said the
41-page document issued for public comment Thursday is little more than a
trumped-up justification for holding Maryland's first bear hunt since 1953 this
fall.

   "The impetus for this is clearly to allow trophy hunting," Michael Markarian,
the group's president, said in an interview from his Silver Spring office.

   The DNR is accepting public comments through Feb. 13 on the plan, which is
available on the agency's Web site, www.dnr.state.md.us.

   It incorporates many recommendations of last year's Black Bear Task Force,
including a regulated hunt; permits to kill bears that damage crops or property;
and ending a novel Black Bear Conservation Stamp program implemented in 1996
that has not raised enough money to fully compensate farmers for crop damage.

   The plan also proposes more habitat conservation, with government agencies
working with private landowners to conserve and protect critical bear habitat.
Peditto said the effort could involve individuals, corporate landowners and
sportsmen's clubs.

   The DNR proposes amending its "black bear nuisance response plan" with a
section on "how to respond to a human injury caused by a bear." The measure
reflects the increased frequency of black bear nuisance complaints, which
totaled 364 in 2002, compared with eight in 1984. Last summer, state wildlife
managers killed a 179-pound female black bear near Deep Creek Lake that they
said had become a public safety threat.

   "We think it's appropriate and responsible to prepare staff who deal with
bear to also be prepared to deal with a bear-related injury," Peditto said.

   He estimated Maryland's bear population at 400, with about 300 concentrated
in Garrett and western Allegany counties - the designated area for this fall's
proposed hunt.

   The proposed hunt, which is expected to target 30 animals, will be the
subject of a public meeting in western Maryland in late winter or early spring,
Peditto said. It also will be fair game for discussion at regular meetings on
proposed 2004-05 and 2005-06 hunting regulations, which will be published in
late February, he said.

   Bear hunting will be debated in the General Assembly, where Delegate Barbara
A. Frush, D-Prince George's, plans to introduce a bill prohibiting a bear season
until 2010 and requiring more study of the issue, according to Duncan Munro, her
legislative assistant.

   Markarian said most Marylanders oppose bear hunting. He said there is no
evidence that hunting reduces human-bear conflicts.

   "If the DNR ultimately decides to finalize a bear-hunting season, we will try
to fight it in court, we will ask the state legislature to ban bear hunting and
we will make it known to Gov. Ehrlich that the citizens of this state want black
bears to be protected, not persecuted," he said.


   On the Net:

   The Fund for Animals: http://www.fund.org

© 2004 The Associated Press