Fishing Forum

to receive a free Sportsmen's Defense Kit and other great member benefits. Alert - Immediate Action Needed Please see instructions below on how you can help. New Jersey Bill Suspends Urban Deer Hunting- (05/31) New Jersey Take Action Now Enter Your ZIP Code New Jersey Residents Only Join our e-mail alert list A legislative leader is drafting a bill in New Jersey that would ban deer hunting for at least one year and study new means of controlling wildlife populations. The bill, which will be sponsored by Senate President Richard Codey (D-West Orange), would set up a task force – which would include at least one representative from an animal rights group - to investigate statewide suburban wildlife management practices. The task force would recommend alternative methods of controlling deer, Canada geese, black bears and coyotes to the legislature. All urban deer control programs, including hunting, would be suspended while the research is being conducted. Anti-hunting groups initially opposed the idea because the newly created task force would include a sportsmen’s representative and the director of the Division of Fish and Wildlife. The attempts to exclude these representatives show that the anti’s view this bill as the first step toward removing sportsmen and hunting from wildlife management. “Our understanding was that it (the draft bill) was going to be a bill that was to propose non-lethal methods,” said Terry Fritzges, a representative for the Animal Rights Alliance. New Jersey already has an agency charged with managing wildlife – the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife - which has successfully managed wildlife for decades. Under Senator Codey’s original bill, the Division would have been given one seat on the task force. The purpose of this bill is to provide anti-hunters with an official platform to convince people to oppose hunting. Maryland’s anti-hunting governor Parris Glendening created a similar task force that included representatives from animal rights groups including the Fund for Animals and the Humane Society of the United States. The results predictably were slanted in opposition to hunting. New Jersey sportsmen should act now. Contact your senator and tell them that sportsmen have funded scientific wildlife management for decades and it has resulted in the healthiest animal populations in history. Tell them to leave wildlife management in the hands of professionals with the Division of Fish and Wildlife. To learn your state Senator’s name and for contact information, call (609) 292-4840, click on the Take Action Now icon above or visit the Legislative Action Center on the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance website, www.ussportsmen.org. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Information on this website can be reprinted with a citation to the US Sportsmen's Alliance and www.ussportsmen.org For more information about how you can protect your rights as a sportsman, contact The US Sportsmen's Alliance, 801 Kingsmill Parkway, Columbus, OH 43229. Phone (614) 888-4868. E-Mail us at info@USSPORTSMEN.org HOME

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