Will California Vote To Reinstate Regulations Allowing Dogs To Assist In Black Bear Hunt Prep?

A California state assemblymember is behind legislation that would reinstate bear hunting regulations that would permit dogs to assist hunters tracking down bears (see video above from ABC 7 TV in San Francisco). Assembly Bill 1038 was introduced last month by Assemblymember Heather Hadwick (R), who represents Northeast California.

Here’s more from S.F. Gate:

The state’s black bear population is beyond “carrying capacity” and conflicts between humans and bears are escalating, Hadwick’s Assembly Bill 1038 states. The proposed bill mentions an attack in Downieville in 2023, when a bear killed a woman in her home. It was the state’s first confirmed death due to a bear attack. Hadwick has framed the bill as a means of addressing this issue, stating that hounding can be another hazing tactic to reintroduce a fear of humans in bears. …

Tahoe’s Bear League said Hadwick’s bill is anything but harmless. 

“This bill would allow hunters to use GPS-collared dogs to chase and tree bears so that the hunters may kill the bear more easily than having to track it without dogs,” the Bear League said in a statement on Facebook.

From Hadwick’s legislation summary, she wrote the following:

Existing law delegates to the Fish and Game Commission the power to regulate the taking or possession of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, and reptiles in accordance with prescribed laws. Existing law authorizes the commission to establish, extend, shorten, or abolish open seasons and closed seasons for the taking of game mammals, including bears. Existing law makes it unlawful to take any bear with a firearm, trap, or bow and arrow without first procuring a tag authorizing the taking of that bear, as specified.

Existing law makes it unlawful to permit or allow a dog to pursue a bear at any time. Existing law establishes various exceptions to that prohibition including the use of dogs to pursue a bear pursuant to a depredation permit if certain conditions are met.

This bill would require the commission to establish seasons during which a person would be authorized to allow dogs to pursue a bear if the person does not injure or kill the bear or allow the bear to be injured or killed while engaging in the activity, as specified.

The bill, after the Department of Fish and Wildlife finalizes the update to its 1998 Bear Management Plan, would authorize the commission to establish a bear hunting season during which a person, pursuant to a bear tag, would be authorized to allow dogs to pursue a bear in any area determined by the commission.