Conversation on bears draws a crowd

Only one thing everyone agrees upon: keep trash tied down Vernon — The continuing trouble with Vernon’s bear population reared its head again at the Vernon Township Council meeting last Thursday. The deaths of two bears in the past several weeks brought out a number of people who wanted to have their say on the issue. “Bears living in close proximity to humans is not a safety risk. Both state statistics and county statistics prove this,” said Janet Piszar of Millburn, director of the BEAR Group, an organization that is a committed to educating New Jerseyans about bears and how to live with them without conflict. However, the most recent statistics from NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife show that the number of bear/human encounters is rising. For the month running from June 21 to July 20, there were 29 calls for issues that constitute an immediate threat to life or property — dubbed Category 1. For the same time period in 2008, there were 27 calls. The division received a total of 512 calls about bears in that month, compared to 407 in 2008. Vernon has been the location of only a portion of the most serious calls, with four bears killed this year, according to Michael Madonia, an assistant biologist with the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife. He emphasized that they were all Category 1 situations. “These animals are not being put down indiscriminately.” One place for agreement But both sides of the issue are in accord on one thing: Garbage is part of the problem. One Lake Wanda resident commented that even though there is a feeding ban in Vernon, it isn’t enforced, and many residents don’t bother to put their garbage in cans. Piszar recommended that the town find a way to give out bear-proof garbage cans to residents in high-risk areas, like Highland Lakes. Even Madonia agreed, saying that he was all for bear-proof cans and would like to see metal lids on commercial dumpsters — anything to help with the problem.