Activists ask state to call off ‘for sport’ event Nevada’s black bears, driven by drought, fire, and smoke from their habitats in the high country around Lake Tahoe, are about to face another existential threat — hunters. The state’s season for hunting bears begins Sept. 15, but environmental organizations and animal activists are asking the […]
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Nevada must put a stop to barbaric bear hunts | Sheila Leslie

This opinion column was submitted by RGJ columnist Sheila Leslie, who served in the Nevada Legislature from 1998 to 2012. If ever there were a time to re-evaluate the decision to allow trophy bear hunting in Nevada, it’s this year. Our unprecedented wildfire season has decimated prime bear habitat, leaving dehydrated and thirsty bears homeless, no […]
Activists: Hunters have ‘stranglehold’ on Nevada wildlife

Nevada’s Department of Wildlife needs more oversight, says state Sen. Pete Goicoechea, who is sponsoring legislation to add two members to the Wildlife Commission. But environmentalists and animal activists say the measure would tilt the board even more in favor of hunting, trapping and fishing interests. The Wildlife Commission is the “the least democratic of all state boards […]
Black bears under siege in Nevada

Department of Wildlife kills more bears than hunters do, says critic Nevada’s black bears are under attack by state regulators, according to some Lake Tahoe residents who allege they are also being targeted for trying to prevent what they contend is the needless slaughter of the animals. “There’s a long history of the Nevada Department […]
What is the worth of a bear’s life?

In 2018, the nation’s fish and wildlife agencies in conjunction with their own polling agency and a couple of universities conducted a national survey of public attitudes regarding a variety of wildlife management issues and values. Nearly 44,000 citizens were queried as to their preferences. The respondents were grouped into four categories: Traditionalist, Mutualist, Pluralist and Indifferent. […]
Pine Nuts: Mama bear’s opinion of harvesting

I’m a mom with two kids and we live in the Tahoe Basin, but don’t ask me where dad is today, maybe over at Taylor Creek checking out the kokanee salmon. We lead a simple life, there being about 450 of us trying to eke out a living here, though it’s getting more and more […]
Wildlife officials to conduct review of state bear hunt

As ordered by the Legislature, Nevada wildlife officials today are poised to review the state’s controversial hunting season for black bears. A committee of the Nevada Wildlife Commission is scheduled to discuss what is described as a “top-to-bottom” review of the bear hunt, which ended its third season Dec. 31. The full commission is scheduled […]
NDOW is subsidizing bear hunt, trapping

Nevada’s Department of Wildlife and its oversight commission claim “sound” science and management buttress gratuitous, serial killing of wildlife species. The facts speak differently. NDOW’s 15-year bear specialist recently testified about a statistically vague population between 400 and 700. This uncertain range has been used to justify three annual hunts for controlling a fictitious population […]
It’s unrealistic to deny animals have emotions

While reading recent bear events, I found the comment about anthropomorphizing wildlife Mr. Healy made interesting. I’m not sure why some biologists express concern about attributing “human-like” emotions to wildlife. Denying animals, especially ones with high cognitive ability, have emotions is unrealistic. Nevada bear data listed captured bears by name until 2003. Yellowstone wolves are […]
Hunting ban out of bear bill

A bill that originally banned bear hunting, now calls for a three-year scientific study of bear hunting to be conducted by the Nevada Department of Wildlife . Senate Bill 82, by Sen. Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, originally declared black bears a protected animal and prohibited the Wildlife Commission from designating a hunting season for them. […]