NDOW allowing 20 black bears to be hunted; Protesters plan demonstration

On September 15, 2017 the annual Nevada bear hunt season opens, and this year 45 hunters have been issued tags to participate in the season that lasts until December 1, or until the quota of 20 black bears has been met. The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) calls this the "Black Bear Harvest."

In protest of the hunt, a "peaceful, educational" demonstration has been planned by NoBearHuntNV.org and Compassion Works International on September 16 in Reno. Participants will be meeting at the intersection of South Virginia and McCarran in front of Reno Star sculpture at 11:00 a.m.

"Please join with us in protest of this horrible crime against our state's wildlife and to honor those bears who will lose their lives because of no management reason other than to provide a recreational killing opportunity," said organizers on their event Facebook page.

Each year, NDOW issues hunting permits for big game such as elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, mule deer, antelope and black bears.

Black bears in the Lake Tahoe and Pine Nut Mountain areas of Nevada number up to an estimated 300-400, though this is just an estimate. Arguments have been made that bears from California will repopulate the Nevada numbers killed off in hunts, but some biologists have disputed this, saying cougars and bears have not moved east into Nevada, preferring life in the mountains of California.

In California there are an estimated 25-30,000 black bears. They too allow hunting of bears, and this year the quota is 1,700, less than .06 percent of the bear population. In Nevada, the tags equal about 5 percent of the bear population and opponents of the hunt warn killing such a large number is decimating populations of bears, especially those in the Pine Nut population.

Some of the areas allowed for hunting are inside the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit of the USFS.

"Portions of the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit are open to hunting as determined and regulated by the respective state agencies, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Nevada Department of Wildlife," said Lisa Herron of the LTBMU. "We encourage hunters to be especially vigilant while hunting on the National Forest lands within the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit as we receive a high-volume of visitors throughout the year who are birdwatching, hiking both on and off trails, biking, and other recreational activities. Do remember, campfires are only allowed in developed campgrounds, not on the beach nor in the general forest."

California hunting tags are issued for not only bears, but bighorn sheep, antelope, elk, wild pig, fox, badger, beaver, raccoon and other animals and birds.