Group calls for bear hunt cancellation

A citizens group opposing a Nevada bear hunt claims that the public process used to adopt the regulation violated state statutes and calls for Wildlife Biologist Carl Lackey to be removed from his advisory role on the bear hunt.

The group, nobearhunt

nv.org, also calls on the governor and attorney general to help overturn the vote of the Nevada Wildlife Commission.

The group, formed to oppose the implementation of Nevada's first bear hunt, has obtained and reviewed the public comments on the proposed Nevada bear hunt, which were submitted to the Nevada Wildlife Commission between the months of July and December 2010, group members said in a Saturday press release.

These meetings led up to the commission's Dec. 4 meeting at which the regulation establishing Nevada's first bear hunt was approved. The bear hunt establishes the 2010-2011 bear season.

The group will attend the Feb. 4 wildlife commission's hearing in Las Vegas and present the commission with the Incline Village General Improvement District resolution opposing the bear hunt in the Tahoe Basin, passed on Jan. 26, and any other resolutions that may be passed between now and the meeting.

The group is seeking the cancellation of the bear hunt contending that there are significant problems with the bear data and the public process used to adopt the regulation by the commission such as lack of scientific bear data; evidence of bias by state biologist; violation of state statutes governing public comment and science; and violation of oaths of wildlife commissioners to represent the general public and to uphold the public process.

The group also wants the Nevada State Legislature to reconfigure the representation on the Nevada Wildlife Commission to accurately represent all the public interests in wildlife.

At its meeting Feb. 4-5 meeting, the commission is scheduled to pass the regulation which defines the specifics of the 2010-2011 hunt including, hunting seasons, allowed methods of hunting, and numbers of bears to be killed.