Michael Schnackenberg is again pushing his naïve narrative about bears and tries whatever to support Murphy. The internet is full of his narratives.
I have quoted official 2020 estimates of huge bear population increase from 2019 and many others. He does not understand that “bear count” is also an estimate. The state traps, catches, counts and releases bears and certainly not all bears walk into the traps so the results are shown as estimates. It is not a census. We cannot count all foxes, squirrels or hawks either.
Gov. Murphy banned culling and stopped to have bear management policy and also avoids bear counts as well because they would show another of his failures. As a policy replacement Murphy has hired two officers mainly to distribute warning fliers to inform to avoid eye contact with bears, retreat to house and in case of attack fight the bear.
Annual report on bear-human interactions indicates, through Nov. 21, 2020, bear sightings are up 104%, nuisance reports are up 123% and property damage reports are up 53% year over year. This is a direct imposition on the livelihoods of tax-paying citizens.
Records show that reported serious encounters with bears since the count have gone up nearly nine-fold.
At least two people in Sussex County were injured in separate black bear encounters just outside their homes and at least three dogs were killed or injured.
DFV has verified the following vehicle-killed bears: 86 in 2010 and 66 in 2009 causing serious accidents.
Schnackenberg writes that during his times at grandparents house in Stillwater he has never met a bear. He does not write how many years ago. Now bears are in every county of New Jersey with big population in Sussex.
I suspect he has never met bear in his apartment in Newton.
Zero encounters with the bears certainly qualifies him to render opinion on bears and to suggest that others will have no problems with bears no matter how many are around.
Wieslaw Mokrzecki
Sparta