Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 28, 1994 TAG: 9411290029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"We're concerned that the record numbers of bears killed by hunters over the last decade are harming a population already stressed by too many roads in bear habitat, high-tech poachers, a monthlong chase season and long-term habitat changes due to the gypsy moth," said Roger Diedrich, a spokesman for the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Organized bear hunters believe the kill, which reached 789 last season, reflects a healthy and expanding bear population.
"I think it is the consensus of everyone who has been out and done any looking or done any studying that there is a lot of bear out there now," said Tony Wilt, vice president of the Virginia Bear Hunters Association.
Dennis Martin, bear research biologist for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, also believes the bear population is expanding. There are a number of questions, however, that need to be addressed, including the age structure of the population, reproduction, survival, range and sex ratio, he said.
In the spring, the department began a five-year - or longer - research project, called the Allegheny Bear Study. It is the most ambitious attempt ever in Virginia to gain baseline information on the black bear population.
"What we are trying to create is a clear, broad view of what the bear population is and what it is not," Martin said.
Much of the work during the early stages of the study has involved equipping bears with radio collars so their movements and habits can be tracked.
While the Sierra Club has been critical of the state for what it calls poor bear management, the organization joined the Virginia Wilderness Committee and the Northern Shenandoah Valley Audubon Society in contributing $800 to the project.
"We have been asking for this kind of research for years, and want to show our support for the new Allegheny Bear Study," said Diedrich.
Along with the support comes a number of requests. The Sierra Club favors regional quotas that set a cap on the number of bear kill to prevent overhunting. The club also wants a system to identify bear hunters.
"As it stands now, bear hunting in Virginia is almost a free-for-all," said Diedrich.
"Their suggestion is that we are mismanaging black bear," said Martin. "While I think we can do a better job with better data, to be quiet honest the data we have suggests that the bear harvest, and we believe the bear population, has been increasing for quite a number of years. We were averaging killing about 215 bears from 1974 to about 1980. Since then, the harvest has dramatically increased."
Martin believes the growth in the population is in part the result of a later bear season set by the department to protect sow bears.
As for the new gun season, which opened today, Martin said still another record is a possibility, but he believes the kill will settle to around 650 animals.
"I would think we would have a pretty good year," he said. The mast crop is good, and that tends to keep bears active later into the winter, he said. "If you have super good hunting weather, cool days and not a lot of snow, a pretty substantial kill could result."
While the bulk of the money for the bear study is coming from the game department - which has committed more than $200,000 for the first two years - Martin said contributions like the one from the Sierra Club are being solicited.
The Virginia Bear Hunters Association and the Virginia Houndsmen and Sporting Dog Association were the first groups to provide financial support.
Sportsmen who hunt bears with hounds seem to reap the bulk of the criticism for any preceived problems with the species, said Wilt. "But I think bear hunters have worked hard to improve our reputation and subsequently to help the species. We have had to do some soul searching over the past five or six years and really look at what the animal means to us."
by CNB