State renews black bear hunting debate

Allowing hunting of black bears in certain areas of the state has become an annual debate at the state Capitol and Friday saw that conversation renewed on two different bills raised by the Environment Committee.

One of the bills, SB 586, would allow the hunting of black bears in Litchfield County.

The other, SB 894, is to to identify non-lethal management practices that can be employed to deter black bears from habituating in areas densely populated by humans.

As with a lot of issues, whether Connecticut is experiencing an increase in the black bear population seems to depend on which side of the issue you are on.

To those who believe that the state statistics backing their belief and to those who dispute those numbers, they often state that black bear sightings are different than black bear population numbers — i.e. the same black bear can be sighted in multiple towns/locations.

Although the bill that would allow bear hunting is written to allow it in Litchfield County, much of Friday’s testimony centered around the growing bear population in a town in Hartford County — Simsbury.

“I think Simsbury is getting close to Farmington as far as having the highest bear population,” Rep. John Hampton, DSimsbury, told the committee.

Simsbury Animal Control Officer Mark Rudewicz said that from early spring to fall he is hammered by calls concerning black bears wandering in people’s backyards.

“There are days when I have been on 14 different calls (for bears),” Rudewicz told the committee. “People are very concerned for their safety, for the safety of their property.”

Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford, asked Rudewicz whether any humans had been hurt by the bear interactions.

Rudewicz said: “Fortunately we haven’t had anybody seriously hurt. But you can’t minimize that as beautiful as these animals are, they are wild animals, dangerous animals.”

Rudewicz was asked by Cohen whether he was in favor of the non-lethal bill or the one that allowed bear hunting.

He said he didn’t want to speak for anyone other then himself, but he found the problem is that “the bears have lost their fear of humans,” adding that he thinks states that have allowed bear hunting have seen some success in thinning the population.

Sen. Craig Miner, RLitchfield, has been pushing for a black bear hunting season for years. Miner said that while he is not opposed to trying to do everything the state can to better educate members of the public on protecting themselves from black bears, it might be the right time for the state to take “that next step” to allow hunting.

Department of Environmental and Energy Commissioner Designee Katie S. Dykes submitted testimony in support of allowing hunting.

“The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection supports this bill because it provides a valuable tool to address the growing public safety concern associated with the continuous expansion of Connecticut’s black bear population,” Dykes said.

“UConn reports that, as of 2015, there were between 397 and 457 black bear in northwestern Connecticut and bears were most abundant in towns with moderate housing density like Farmington, Simsbury, and Avon,” Dykes said.