Posted on 07/22/2004 6:53:38 AM PDT by ZULU
The Commissioner of the New Jersey D.E.P. has decided to run interference for his puppetmaster, Governor James E. McGreevey of New Jersey, in blocking a bear hunt, despite a vote of 6-1 by the New Jersey Fish and Game Council supporting such a hunt.
The members of said council probably know far more about this subject than either the Governor or his mouthpiece both of whom apparently are willing to sacrifice the welfare and safety of the majority of New Jersey's citizens for the benefit of a handfull of animal rights wackos.
If the bear population in that state can't be reduced by hunting while its restricted to the more rural areas of the state, it will expand, like the deer population, into the more suburban and even urban areas and present a far greater menace than the state's already overflowing, Lyme-disease reeking and plant destroying deer herds.
The black bears at Lake Tahoe have been allowed to over-populate to a ridiculous level. What used to be called bear "sightings" now is bear "invasions". They break into houses frequently.
Is there a hunt for them there?
Heck no. People call the Fish and Game, and are usually told, "well, the bears WERE there FIRST......" Once in a while they will capture a troublesome one and move it higher up the mountain. But the bears are back down at the houses the next day.
Did you know that New Jersey voted AGAINST Abraham Lincoln in 1860 AND 1864?!
I've got a great idea: Let's arm the dadgummed black bears!
This country is beginning to remind me of India - with the sacred cows crapping in the street, sacerd monkeys running amok in the cities, sacred cobras crawling all over the place.
We should call a time out, and start all over again from the beginning - around 1783.
Yes I did. New Jersey was also the only Northern State not to institute a state draft in the Civil War because they were so many rebel sympathysizers in the southern part of the state.
And I don't think the Jersey residents did much to help old George out back in the Revolution either.
New Jersey is called the crossroads of the American Revolution, because it held a key geographical position at the center of the new nation, and the armies were in or crossing it throughout the war. It was heavily involved in the fighting, due to the troop movements through the state, and its key geographic position between New York City and Philadelphia. New Jersey had more engagements than any other state during the war, closely followed by South Carolina.
Major actions in the state include:
The forced Abandonment of Fort Lee, Nov. 20 th, 1776 starting the retreat of the American army across NJ to the other side of the Delaware river.
The first battle of Trenton, Dec 26 th, 1776
The battle of Princeton, Jan 3 rd, 1777
The Battle of Bound Brook, April 14th, 1777
The Battle of Short Hills, June, 1777
River Forts defense of the lower Delaware, fall of 1777
The battle of Monmouth, June 28 th, 1778
The Battle of Connecticut Farms, June 6 th ,1780
The Battle of Springfield, June 23 rd, 1780, one of the larger battles of the war, for numbers of troops involved, yet least known.
In addition, there were hundreds, even thousands, of smaller battles, engagements, skirmishes, raids, ambushes, etc. involving regular troops, militia units and loyalist units, and many actions off the coast of sea vessels. NJ men used whaleboats to raid British shipping and territories around NYC , Long Island, and off Sandy Hook, besides the small ships used as privateers
"Did you know that New Jersey voted AGAINST Abraham Lincoln in 1860 AND 1864?!"
Which is a good deal better than any of the treasonous southern states did, isn't it?
P.S. Treason is defined in the US constitution as waging war against the United States, so don't try to tell me they weren't traitors.
I'm aware of all that. A lot of battles, not that many troops from Jersey in support, especiallly considering the fact that the fighting was in their own colony. Maybe even back then Jerseyians demonstrated an aversion to firearms.
I am also aware of the fact that the worst winter spent by Washington's troops was at Morristown, New Jersey, and that the locals were less than supportive with supplies and food.
Also, that the entire area of what currently consists of Hudson and Bergen County was inhabited by essentially pro-British Dutch colonists, that when Washington was retreating across the Jerseys from Fort Lee the locals were not at all supportive and provided no substantial assistance, and that the only degree of substantial active aid he got from Jersey militia units was after the New Jerseyans had been treated to British and Hessian "hospitality."
The northern part of New Jersey near the New York State Border was full of brigands who played both sides of the game, as were the Pine Barrens region.
Only later on in the game when it appeared the Americans were doing well did New Jerseyans turn out in large numbers with support.
I don't think New Jersey troops provided anywhere near the kind of assistance to the Revolutionary War effort as did the New Englanders, the Pennsylvanians, the Maryland and Delaware Units, or the kind of effective guerilla resistance which occurred in the Carolinas.
Two Jersey units revolted at Pompton Plains and had to be surpressed forcibly by troops from other colonies.
New Jersey has a LOOONG tradition of eccentric behavior with respect to patriotic Americanism.
But I keep an open mind and will hit my history sources and see how many troops Jersey actually did supply compared with the other colonies, and compared with the population of the state.
When I get it, I'll forward it on to you.
Huh?
No need to dig further, your assertions about the NJ militia and citizens are correct and well known. Then, like now, there were too few who would fight the good fight. But there are some of us.
That's right! NJ is OVERRUN with bears! They are EVERYWHERE! They are in the streets of Newark, Paterson, Montclair, Sussex, Bloomfield, Camden, Trenton, etc. They are a total nuisance - attacking and killing people, running the streets, abandoning and abusing their off-spring, destroying property, disturbing the peace...no wait....THAT'S PEOPLE! I know - LET'S HUNT PEOPLE!!! GREAT IDEA!!!!!
First of all, bears are NOT everywhere in NJ. If you CHOOSE to live in those areas, you KNOW you will have bear. DEAL WITH IT. Secondly, hikers, campers, etc. are all about getting back to nature. Guess what - YOU are going to THEIR territory. How arrogant to think that nature should bend to your will.
I see you've never lived in bear country, PETA-breath. Either nature kills them off through starvation, or we help control their numbers. The first prevents a horrible, lingering death and also has the added benefit of instilling the bears with a fear of people, which protects both the bears and people - the second approach, yours, lets bears starve and leads to dangerous encounters between people and bears.
But go ahead - pull out of your arse something you know nothing about, and use absurdities to make your point. It's the liberal way.
How arrogant to think that nature should bend to your will.
I don’t expect nature to bend to my will, I expect it to die when I shoot it.
Hopefully Maryland goes forward with our bear hunt this year. The DNR here is trying to cull 30 bears in the two Western counties. IMO, we need alot more the 30 bears killed when they are moving into the suburban counties like Montgomery and Anne Arundel in the Washington/Baltimore Corridor.
That sux about Jersey though. It is really sad that most people have no clue as to the realities of big predators. They are unpredicitable eating machines.
Don't forget those snakes that grow up in the big baskets.
Now, now, we all know that deer didn't have any large predators in the Eastern United States before the white man came (I actually had some animal rights idiot claim this to me once at a party).
Are you for real??? Nahh, this has got to be a joke.
Lets dissect this, oops, I mean analyze this paragraph.
"First of all, bears are NOT everywhere in NJ."
I just heard on the news today that Bears are now in every County in New Jersey except Cape May. Certainly, the majority of the bear population is still located in the northern and western parts of the state, where they will probably remain. But bears HAVE appeared in Trenton and Newark my friend.
"If you CHOOSE to live in those areas, you KNOW you will have bear."
Until New Jersey eliminated the Bear Hunt, the Black Bear population was limited to the extreme northwestern portion of the state near High Point and the Delaware Water Gap and even there it was never very high. In the 1960's and 1970's and early 1980's you could wander the most remote forests of the state without ever seeing a bear. Occasionally, one wandered into a settled area, was shot with a tranquilizer and relocated.
AFTER the New Jersey bear hunt was eliminated, the number of bears began to grow. They started to spread all over the state, including long-established communities which ceased being "Bear Country" back in the 1700's. The rise in the bear population there is due to the end of the bear hunt, and increases in available garbage, the spread of deer, and increases in forest land. (A lot of open Jersey Farmland has been abandoned and/or sold).
The idea that people are moving into "bear" country is lopsided. The situation is the reverse - for the most part - at least in Jersey. The bears are spreading out into the settled areas. They are also following the expanded and nearly as much of a nuisance deer herds. Bears EAT deer especially fawns and adults when they can get them and scavenge the carcasses - of which there are many along Jersey's highways and roads.
And if you choose to live in "bear Country" you should be able to shoot them if they threaten you, your livestock or your pets and property. Such is not the case in New Jersey which restricts the ownership and use of firearms by private citizens.
"DEAL WITH IT."
Thats the best way to "deal with it".
"Secondly, hikers, campers, etc. are all about getting back to nature. Guess what - YOU are going to THEIR territory."
Right. And as a human being your life and those of other humans are worth far more than any bear's and you have a right to defend yourself if attacked. Further, a bear hunt helps to instill a healthy fear of humans in bears instead of allowing them to view people and their livestock and dwellings as just another food source.
"How arrogant to think that nature should bend to your will."
Interesting. If we didn't have nature "bend to our will" we would still be living in caves and wearing, ...ahem bearskins.
We don't live in a world where animals talk and bears and mountain lions and deer live peacefully together. You only see that in Walt Disney Films.
Black bears are large, potentially dangerous ominvores which can reach 800 lbs, run faster than a man, climb a tree, rip open a car, or tear the door off your house.
They aren't warm cuddly "teddy" bears.
Each year more Americans are killed or mauled by black bears than by grizzlies.
I think there is a place for both bears and people, as long the bear population is kept within limits through a hunt, and as long individual citizens have the right to carry a weapon and use it in self defense in "bear country".
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