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Connecticut Bear Hunt Bill Scaled Back to Help Just Farmers

The General Assembly's Environment Committee voted Monday to amend a bill that would have authorized regulated bear hunting in Litchfield County.

A contentious proposal to allow bear hunting in Connecticut has been scaled back, now focusing only on farmers whose livestock, poultry and bees are destroyed by the animals.

NBC Connecticut Investigates explored the idea of bringing back a bear hunt in a piece that aired last November. Legislators have presented several approaches manage to the uptick in the Connecticut bear population.

The General Assembly's Environment Committee voted Monday to amend a bill that would have authorized regulated bear hunting in Litchfield County.

The new version of the bill, which awaits further action by the Senate, updates current law allowing the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner to grant permits for the taking of certain nuisance wildlife that has destroyed crops. According to the Humane Society of the United States, unlike the original hunting proposal, which would be restricted to Litchfield County, this adaptation allowing farmers to deal with bears that are nuisance wildlife is statewide.

Data courtesy of Connecticut DEEP

Under the newly revamped bill, damage to livestock, poultry and bees would be added.

The Connecticut Farm Bureau says bears are "one of those animals that are causing havoc on farms."

The committee also passed legislation encouraging more non-lethal bear management techniques.

University of Connecticut researcher Dr. Tracy Rittenhouse explains what her study revealed about where bears live in Connecticut. 

The Humane Society of the United States said in a statement that they were disappointed in the vote and that there are already rules on the books that allow farmers to kill bears to defend agricultural products.

"Liberalizing landowner rights to kill bears is a strategy that has been used in other states by trophy hunters to create a loophole. Our current law is intentionally limited to landowners, leasees, and their employees in order to prevent reckless killing, and should NOT be altered. Considering CT’s small bear population, these restrictions are all the more vital.

Non-lethal strategies for farmers-- like properly securing animals and crops, aversive conditioning, and temporary diversionary feeding programs-- have the benefit of being long-term solutions. Killing only creates an endless, cruel cycle of killing," the statement read in part.

A number of legislators have decided to take aim at bills connected to our state’s rising bear population.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
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