PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following action:
Action taken:
Amendment of section 1.31 of Title 6 NYCRR.
Statutory authority:
Environmental Conservation Law, sections 11-0303, 11-0903 and 11-0907
Subject:
Hunting seasons for black bear.
Purpose:
To expand the areas open to bear hunting.
Text or summary was published
in the June 25, 2008 issue of the Register, I.D. No. ENV-26-08-00017-P.
Final rule as compared with last published rule:
No changes.
Text of rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Gordon R. Batcheller, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754, (518) 402-8885, email: grbatche@gw. dec.state.ny.us
Additional matter required by statute:
A programmatic Environmental Impact Statement has been prepared and is on file with the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Assessment of Public Comment
The department received comments on the proposed amendments. A summary of these comments and the department's response follows:
Comment:
Comments simply stating support for or opposition to the department's proposal were received.
Response:
The department recognizes that the management of bears is important to many people. In 2007-2008, the department held about 30 public meetings throughout upstate New York, attended by about 750 people, to provide an overview of the natural history and current status of black bears, including recent range expansion, and to seek public input on future management. The department's proposal to expand the area open to black bear hunting is a partial outcome of those meetings. New York has a healthy and growing bear population. Opening the proposed areas to hunting will not jeopardize this bear population but will enhance management capability to control further growth and limit growth into areas where the existence of bears is likely to be problematic.
Comment:
Sightings of bears and bear sign have increased in recent years and that the bear population should be reduced.
Response:
The department uses population reconstruction models and harvest data to track bear populations in areas where bears are hunted. Additionally, the department monitors bear populations in all areas through bear sightings, nuisance activity, and reported bear mortality (e.g., bear-vehicle collisions). These data indicate that a bear population is established and growing outside of the existing bear hunting area. The department agrees that the growth of this bear population needs to be controlled.
Comment:
There is enjoyment in seeing black bears but also recognition of the increase in bear numbers over the past decade. Hunting is an effective means to manage black bears and proposed regulation change is appropriate to control bear population growth and reduce or stop bear range expansion. The department was complimented for taking proactive measures to address the growing bear population before it expands and becomes established in areas with high potential for bear related conflicts.
Response:
The department agrees. Regulated hunting is the only viable and cost effective tool for controlling bear numbers on a landscape scale. Opening the proposed Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) in central and western New York to black bear hunting will help control the bear population. Without this, the bear population could continue to grow. The resulting range expansion would impact highly agricultural and populated areas, increasing bear nuisance activity.
Comment:
The department received a large number of form letters and e-mails along with some individual comments stating opposition to the proposal and stating that hunting of bears is an ineffective approach to bear management and reducing conflicts; an expansion of the hunting range will not resolve problems created by a few bears; the department should educate the public in black bear management and nuisance prevention/control practices; and the department should implement a long-term non-lethal management program (e.g, preventing bear access to attractants, using fencing and repellents, and aversive conditioning by department staff).
Response:
The department has long standing and ongoing programs to increase the public's awareness of bears, inform the public on techniques to avoid conflicts with bears, and address nuisance situations with non-lethal intervention. The department recognizes that effective bear management involves education, non lethal intervention, and population management. Information on these methods is posted on the department's website (www.dec.ny.gov). Also, the department produced a "Living with New York Black Bears" DVD that was distributed to all public libraries in New York. This DVD is also being sent to high school and college libraries. The department's educational efforts include presentations at annual black bear forums, over 30 public meetings held in the fall and winter of 2007-2008, staff response and demonstration of mitigation techniques to landowners and municipalities with bear conflicts, and other information available on the department's website. In department response to bear conflicts, removal of attractants and non lethal control are primary actions in most situations. Through a combination of education, preventative measures, and aversive conditioning of individual bears, the department will continue to address bear-related conflicts regionally and on a case by case basis.
Public education, aversive condition of problem bears, and attractant removal are critical actions to reduce human-bear conflicts but are insufficient to control population growth and range expansion. The department believes that hunting is an important component of a comprehensive management program, which includes efforts to mitigate negative black bear impacts over large areas. The additional bear harvest anticipated in the areas proposed is expected to slow population growth and range expansion, thereby significantly reducing bear population expansion into areas where agricultural activity and human population densities are high and addressing a potentially high conflict situation before it arises.
Comment:
The proposed changes will provide more hunting opportunity, possibly generating more interest in sporting activities, reduce the decline in participation rates, and possibly boost tourism and local economies in the proposed areas. Additionally, it was noted that all resident big game hunters pay for a black bear tag as part of their license package, and the proposal may give more hunters the opportunity to use the tag.
Response:
The proposal would afford hunters additional black bear hunting opportunity. Most black bears are taken by deer hunters; less than 0.2 percent of New York's hunters take a bear. The additional opportunity will likely increase satisfaction of some New York hunters.
Comment:
Tioga County is the only county along the Pennsylvania border where bear hunting has not been permitted.
Response:
Pennsylvania has a well established and hunted bear population directly south of Tioga County. Bears originally captured and marked in Pennsylvania are periodically found in New York. This means that some of New York's bears are already hunted in Pennsylvania. The department's proposal will now afford New York residents the same opportunity as nearby Pennsylvania hunters.
Comment:
Is the bear population large enough to sustain a hunting season in the area proposed to be opened for hunting?
Response:
The department monitors annual bear harvest, nuisance complaints, non hunting mortality, and citizen observations to determine population trends which clearly indicate a growing bear population. Also, bears annually disperse into New York from other states. Opening new areas to hunting will not be detrimental to the viability of bear populations in central and western New York.
Comment:
The department should monitor the bear population in the proposed area for several more years before expanding the bear hunting area and the number of bears taken should be limited.
Response:
Delaying action would mean that the bear population would grow and expand, likely leading to increased bear conflicts requiring the department to propose more stringent management actions in the near future. The department will monitor trends in the bear population so that over-harvest does not occur.
Comment:
Expanding bear hunting would teach bears to be afraid of houses and people.
Response:
The learned avoidance of humans by individual bears is an unlikely outcome of the proposal. Hunter densities and hunting pressure is often high in the areas surrounding population centers and removal of bears from these areas may reduce bear-related conflicts.
Comment:
The proposal was made to increase the sale of hunting licenses.
Response:
All resident big game licensees currently receive a bear tag. Since the number of bear tags issued to residents will not be affected by this proposal, an increase in license sales is not expected. Between 2,000 and 2,500 non resident bear tags are sold annually but a significant increase in these sales is not anticipated.
Comment:
Bear hunting is a cruel and inhumane method of bear population control and results in cubs being orphaned.
Response:
Bear hunting is the only viable and cost effective tool for controlling bear numbers on a landscape scale and is an essential component of a comprehensive management program that also includes public education and non-lethal measures of reducing negative bear impacts. Bear hunting is a lawful and effective method of controlling bear populations through regulated harvest. Existing regulations for the southern bear hunting areas protect cubs and sows with cubs due to the timing of the season and by prohibiting hunters from taking cubs or taking a bear from among a group of bears.
Comment:
The proposed expansion of bear hunting is designed to satisfy trophy hunters. The proposal will increase illegal activity and trespass, decrease non-hunter's safety, and force bears into areas they would not normally inhabit.
Response:
The majority of bears will be taken by deer hunters, as is the case in the current bear hunting areas. There is very little selectivity for older, larger bears which would describe a “trophy” hunt. Additionally, no change in hunter behavior is expected that would increase trespass or illegal activity or decrease non-hunter safety. Hunting is a safe activity. As deer hunting, small game, and turkey hunting already occur in the new areas, no changes in bear movements are expected.
Comment:
The proposal will reduce crop and apiary damage. The proposal will be beneficial to New York's farmers and the hunting area should be expanded to other areas.
Response:
The proposal is designed to lower damage to farm interests by limiting bear population expansion. The department may consider changes to bear hunting in other areas of the state in the future.
Comment:
The effect of current harvest rates on bear populations is not well understood.
Response:
Bear populations in the southern bear range have expanded. Age and sex ratios show that current harvest rates are not negatively impacting the viability of these populations. Population estimates are generated from known bear mortalities, of which hunting harvest is a primary source. These are conservative, minimum estimates. Bears are established in an area about one third larger than the area from which the minimum population estimate has been generated.
Comment:
The increase in bear-related conflicts is due to habitat loss, development, and growth in human population rather than bear population growth and range expansion. The best long-term solution involves sustainable development to maintain wildlife habitat.
Response:
New York's bear population has clearly grown in number and increased in geographic distribution. Addressing only the human side of the bear-human conflict equation is insufficient for long-term bear management.
Comment:
Current laws which are designed to protect females and young bears contradict the effort to reduce bear numbers. Hunters could be more effective in reducing bear numbers if hunting over bait or trapping bears were allowed.
Response:
The firearms season for bear hunting in western New York begins seven days after the beginning of regular deer season. This lag could be reduced or eliminated through future rule making if additional population control is needed. Other prohibitions (e.g., trapping, using bait, prohibition on taking cubs) are contained in the Environmental Conservation Law and would require legislative action.
Comment:
The department should use non-lethal measures to control bears, including trap and transfer and fertility control.
Response:
Fertility control or trap and transfer programs are not a viable option for bear management on a landscape scale. Fertility control (e.g., sterilization or immunocontraception) is not feasible for population management of black bears. Trap and transfer, while sometimes used to remove a bear from an urban or suburban situation, is not an effective means to control bear populations. Movement of bears is stressful to the animal, labor intensive, and expensive. Also, bears can move long distances to return to the original capture location.
The opening of the proposed area for bear hunting is intended as a continuation of efforts to manage population growth and range expansion. In central and western New York, it is an important first step in an effort to slow or stop growth into the Lake Plains where farming and human population densities are high as is the probability of conflict between bears and human interests. The department believes that this proposal will achieve these goals, and therefore the department is adopting the proposal as originally published.
