TRENTON, N.J. - Late today, the Supreme Court of New Jersey issued a unanimous four-page order canceling the state's upcoming bear hunt which was scheduled to begin on Monday. The ruling settles a dispute between the Department of Environmental Protection and the Fish and Game Council over whether the bear hunt should proceed, and it prevents a repeat of last year's tragedy in which more than 300 bears-including cubs-were killed for sport for the first time in New Jersey in 33 years.

"This court decision does more than just protect black bears from needless killing by trophy hunters," says Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. "This case sets a precedent that the hunter-dominated Fish and Game Council can no longer thumb its nose at the people of New Jersey and the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection. The Council's reckless decision to push ahead with a hunt has been thwarted by a unanimous Supreme Court."

Trophy hunting organizations had sued the Department of Environmental Protection and its Commissioner Bradley Campbell for refusing to issue bear hunting permits. Although the state's wildlife experts had argued that a bear hunt could not be conducted safely with the agency's limited resources and that it would conflict with the state's non-lethal bear management strategies, the Appellate Division had ordered them to issue bear hunting permits anyway. The Supreme Court has rightly reversed that decision.

Adds Michael Markarian, president of The Fund for Animals, "Commissioner Campbell made the right decision to hold off on hunting bears this season and to pursue humane, long-term solutions such as education, feeding ban enforcement, and contraception. Trophy hunting organizations were trying to elevate the recreational interests of a few hunters over legitimate public safety concerns, and the Supreme Court made the only responsible decision in rejecting that preposterous logic."

The Humane Society of the United States and The Fund for Animals noted that this decision sets an important precedent for wildlife protection. While the Bush Administration had tried to bully New Jersey officials into having a bear hunt by threatening to withhold federal conservation funding, U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg today pointed out that "the bear hunt is an internal State issue and the federal government should not attempt to bully or blackmail the NJ Department of Environmental Protection."

A copy of the Supreme Court's four-page opinion is available online here.