Thursday, May 11, 2023 | 2 a.m.
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I read with interest the May 6 column by Steve Searles (“Hungry bears are a troubling consequence of epic snowpack”), bemoaning the fact that bears will emerge from hibernation with nothing to eat.
Unfortunately, there’s more bad news for bears. Not only do they have to deal with wildfires, drought, historic snow, being hit by cars, killed by the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) for being nuisances, but reently the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners (NBWC) voted to increase the number of black bears that hunters can kill.
The governor-appointed nine-member commission is ruled by at least seven members who consistently vote in favor of hunters and trappers. It unfailingly votes against the wishes of the general public.
Year after year, the commission pretends to listen to those who love Nevada’s wildlife. We speak reasonably with factual arguments. We point out that there is no management objective for hunting and killing bears; NDOW even admitted as much. It is an “opportunity” (read: trophy) hunt.
Bear hunters use hounds equipped with GPS collars to run bears to exhaustion, tree them (perhaps even a female with hidden cubs), and wait to be killed. The use of hounds is destructive to the environment and against any semblance of “fair chase.”
A 2018 Nevada Values Report, sponsored by NDOW, showsthat only 13% of the public supports the bear hunt. Without reforms to ensure the Wildlife Commission becomes democratic, the vast majority of Nevadans and the wildlife they love will not be served.
