Last Friday in Las Vegas, the commission set rules for the upcoming black bear hunt season; the commission will decide in 2012 whether the bear hunting regulations need to be tweaked or made permanent.
Hunters who win one of 45 tags to be distributed through a state lottery will be able to use any legal weapon authorized for big game to hunt Nevada's bears starting the third Saturday of August through the last Saturday of December.
The one-year harvest cannot exceed 20 bears, and only six bears can be female, meaning if the first six bears tagged are female, the season would end early.
Under the regulations passed by the board, it is illegal to kill a sow accompanied by a cub or to kill a cub.
Hunters who harvest a black bear must notify the state within 24 hours. They have 72 hours to personally bring the skull and hide to the state for inspection.
Roughly 300 black bears are in Nevada, mostly along the foothills of Lake Tahoe, said state Department of Wildlife spokesman Doug Nielsen. The population grows by about 16 percent each year.
The bears can be problematic for residents in northwestern Nevada, so a hunting season is a good way to control nuisances, Nielsen said.
Hunters who win one of 45 tags to be distributed through a state lottery will be able to use any legal weapon authorized for big game to hunt Nevada's bears starting the third Saturday of August through the last Saturday of December.
The one-year harvest cannot exceed 20 bears, and only six bears can be female, meaning if the first six bears tagged are female, the season would end early.
Under the regulations passed by the board, it is illegal to kill a sow accompanied by a cub or to kill a cub.
Hunters who harvest a black bear must notify the state within 24 hours. They have 72 hours to personally bring the skull and hide to the state for inspection.
Roughly 300 black bears are in Nevada, mostly along the foothills of Lake Tahoe, said state Department of Wildlife spokesman Doug Nielsen. The population grows by about 16 percent each year.
The bears can be problematic for residents in northwestern Nevada, so a hunting season is a good way to control nuisances, Nielsen said.
Despite Nevada's wildlife commission approving regulations last week to the state's first-ever black bear hunt, a local group of concerned residents opposed to the hunt and the motivations behind its approval are not giving up the fight.
Tahoe residents Christine Schwamberger and Kathryn Bricker, the two lead organizers of nobearhuntnv.org, said this week they are compiling facts in preparation of filing a lawsuit in Nevada District Court against the Nevada Wildlife Commission, alleging the statewide body violated open meeting laws.
Schwamberger, a practicing attorney, said a lawsuit is "highly likely" as of Wednesday afternoon. She said the commission violated Nevada Revised Statute 241, which states any members of a public board must "consider fully" public comment and have a public discussion of the comment, when it approved the hunt via an 8-0 vote in Reno in December 2010.
"Essentially, the public was excluded from the meeting, which is a direct violation of Nevada laws," Schwamberger said. "Our input was disregarded, mischaracterized and ignored."
Contention revolves around Chairman Scott Raine's characterization of more than 4,000 e-mails containing comments relating to the bear hunt as "spam." Schwamberger further takes issue with the board's characterization of the e-mails as "evenly split" between for and against.
An analysis by nobearhuntnv.org claims that more than 98 percent of the e-mails were in opposition to the hunt. Furthermore, NDOW spokesman Chris Healy said in a previous story that 42 people spoke out against the hunt and 20 voiced support for it during the Dec. 3-4 hearing in Reno.
Raine said he may have misused the word spam, but many of the e-mails came from outside the state of Nevada and in some cases outside the country.
He said board members did listen to public comment and incorporated some of the ideas brought forth during the meeting, including the notion of banning a spring hunt.
Nevertheless, nobearhuntnv.org continues to maintain the democratic process was not upheld during the proceedings, with Bricker saying the board continued to disregard public input at the most recent meeting — last Friday in Las Vegas.
"That meeting went poorly," said Bricker, who joined Schwamberger in presenting the commission with an Incline Village General Improvement District resolution voicing displeasure against the hunt.
Schwamberger said the lawsuit is one aspect of a "full-court press" against the commission and its decision.
Bricker and Schwamberger also met with a representative from Gov. Brian Sandoval's office to discuss revamping the laws pertaining to the configuration of the commission, who various county advisory boards recommend as board candidates and which scientific data is admissible.
According to state law, the governor appoints the nine-member commission; five of the members must have experience as hunters or fisherman.
The women are also conducting interviews with regional television stations in hopes of bringing more attention to the issue.
"We want to collect public support and exert some political pressure while we research our facts in preparation for a lawsuit," Schwamberger said.
Tahoe residents Christine Schwamberger and Kathryn Bricker, the two lead organizers of nobearhuntnv.org, said this week they are compiling facts in preparation of filing a lawsuit in Nevada District Court against the Nevada Wildlife Commission, alleging the statewide body violated open meeting laws.
Schwamberger, a practicing attorney, said a lawsuit is "highly likely" as of Wednesday afternoon. She said the commission violated Nevada Revised Statute 241, which states any members of a public board must "consider fully" public comment and have a public discussion of the comment, when it approved the hunt via an 8-0 vote in Reno in December 2010.
"Essentially, the public was excluded from the meeting, which is a direct violation of Nevada laws," Schwamberger said. "Our input was disregarded, mischaracterized and ignored."
Contention revolves around Chairman Scott Raine's characterization of more than 4,000 e-mails containing comments relating to the bear hunt as "spam." Schwamberger further takes issue with the board's characterization of the e-mails as "evenly split" between for and against.
An analysis by nobearhuntnv.org claims that more than 98 percent of the e-mails were in opposition to the hunt. Furthermore, NDOW spokesman Chris Healy said in a previous story that 42 people spoke out against the hunt and 20 voiced support for it during the Dec. 3-4 hearing in Reno.
Raine said he may have misused the word spam, but many of the e-mails came from outside the state of Nevada and in some cases outside the country.
He said board members did listen to public comment and incorporated some of the ideas brought forth during the meeting, including the notion of banning a spring hunt.
Nevertheless, nobearhuntnv.org continues to maintain the democratic process was not upheld during the proceedings, with Bricker saying the board continued to disregard public input at the most recent meeting — last Friday in Las Vegas.
"That meeting went poorly," said Bricker, who joined Schwamberger in presenting the commission with an Incline Village General Improvement District resolution voicing displeasure against the hunt.
Schwamberger said the lawsuit is one aspect of a "full-court press" against the commission and its decision.
Bricker and Schwamberger also met with a representative from Gov. Brian Sandoval's office to discuss revamping the laws pertaining to the configuration of the commission, who various county advisory boards recommend as board candidates and which scientific data is admissible.
According to state law, the governor appoints the nine-member commission; five of the members must have experience as hunters or fisherman.
The women are also conducting interviews with regional television stations in hopes of bringing more attention to the issue.
"We want to collect public support and exert some political pressure while we research our facts in preparation for a lawsuit," Schwamberger said.
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