NY Dept. of Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens has historically been a strong environmental advocate............Yet in my opinion, he comes up short with his recent decision to allow increased Black Bear hunting in the Empire State starting this year-----"After careful consideration of thousands of public comments, the strategies outlined in the Black Bear Management Plan seek to achieve and maintain bear population levels that are acceptable to the public while providing sustainable opportunity for New York's big game hunters"............Joe, what about increasing education of the public on how to co-exist with bruins,,,,,,,,,,,,How about mandating bear proof garbage cans.-------Why is what hunters want the reason for killing more bears.............Why are you allowing unknowing residents to dictate policy prior to "co-existence education taking place,,,,,,,,,,,Why does your 10-year plan makes note of the need for DEC to assess the possibility of disregarding "fair chase" and potentially allowing the use of dogs, bait and live-capture cable restraints for taking bears."?????????????

Check out this story on poughkeepsiejournal.com: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/sports/recreational
/2014/05/28/state-adopts-plan-manage-black-bear-population/9700895/