For Release: Wednesday, September 5, 2007
DEC Proposes to Lengthen the Catskill Black Bear Hunting Season
Two Extra Days Proposed as Bear Population Grows
The black bear hunting season in the Catskill Mountain region would be lengthened by two days at the start of this fall's season -- commencing on the same day as deer season -- under new regulations proposed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today.
The proposed change would set the opening of bear season on the same day, Saturday, Nov. 17, as the start of the regular deer season, creating better opportunities for bear hunters. This marks the second time in three seasons that the agency has extended the hunting season in the Catskills and surrounding areas in an effort to stabilize the growing black bear population and reduce the number of bear ``home entry'' incidents.
"Black bears are now common throughout the Catskills and additional bear hunting opportunity is warranted," Grannis said.
The official proposal was published in the Sept. 5 edition of the New York State Register. A 45-day public comment period will close Oct. 22. The regulation would apply to specially designated Wildlife Management Units in all or parts of Rockland, Orange, Ulster, Sullivan, Greene, Albany, Schenectady, Schoharie, Otsego, Herkimer, Madison, Delaware, Chenango and Broome counties (Map available at http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7857.html ).
Managing the black bear population in the Catskills has been a longtime focus of the Department. For many decades, hunters in the Catskills were able to take bears during the entire regular deer hunting season. Following research in the 1970s, the DEC's wildlife biologists recommended increasing the Catskill bear population by delaying the start of the regular hunting season by five days to reduce hunting pressure on bears. Following several decades of such lags, bear population estimates in the Catskill region grew from several hundred to several thousand.
Over the last decade, the Department has documented an increasing trend in farm and property damage from high numbers of bears. A recently updated report (http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7215.html) shows that black bear population and range has increased steadily since 1995.
A related trend has been the dramatic increase in "home entry" incidents (black bears breaking into a residence to look for food) over the last five years. Between 2001-03 in the Catskill region, the Department recorded three to five home entry incidents per year. Over the next three years, however, there have been between 21 and 45 such incidents annually. Anecdotally, indications are the 2007 numbers will also be high. Just days ago (Sept. 1), a Hunter, Greene County, resident returned to his residence to find a sow and three cubs inside. The bears quickly fled - but a male bear entered the same residence twice the same day. The owner hit the bear with a broomstick and the bear ran away.
In 2003, the state established Black Bear Stakeholder Input Groups to evaluate the impacts of bears, and to make recommendations for future bear management in the Catskills. One of the key recommendations was that the growth of black bear populations should be slowed, and eventually stabilized. DEC took the first step of this process in 2005 by reducing the lag between deer and bear seasons to two days from five. Now, the Department proposes to start deer and bear seasons on the same day in the Catskills.
In the past, the opening of deer season and the influx of hunters into the woods typically drove bears deeper into the forest. The Department recommends starting deer and bear seasons on the same day in the Catskills to improve bear hunting opportunities.
"The progress of the bear population since the 1970s has been a success story. But as numbers have continued to increase, the elimination of the two-day lag in hunting season is appropriate," Grannis said.
The start of the regular hunting season in the state's two other primary bear regions will remain the same: Allegany (Nov. 24) and Adirondacks (Oct. 20).
Public comments on the DEC's proposal will be accepted until Oct. 22 and may be sent via email or regular mail to: Jeremy Hurst, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754; jehurst@gw.dec.state.ny.us (Please write "bear hunting" in the subject line.)
