WHEREAS, widespread development in New Jersey has led deer, black bear, geese, starlings, turkeys and other birds, as well as small mammals, to seek the relatively open spaces of New Jersey farmland and its appurtenant woodlands, infiltrating and feeding upon the crops farmers depend upon for their livelihood and that residents depend upon for fresh, nutritious, locally grown and produced foods, and risking the introduction of diseases common to wildlife into the domestic animal population and to humans; and

WHEREAS, the burgeoning black bear population, in particular, poses a threat to smaller agricultural animals such as sheep, goats and chickens -- as well as to New Jersey beekeepers’ honeybee colonies that are vital to pollinating many of New Jersey’s leading produce crops and which account for a growing fresh honey supply -- and these bears have increasingly come into contact with humans in residential areas; and

WHEREAS, the 1999 Report to the Governor on Deer Management in New Jersey and the 2005 adoption of the Comprehensive Black Bear Management Strategy call for using hunting, among other methods, as a tool to manage these wildlife populations; and

WHEREAS, deer overpopulation in New Jersey is an established fact, with an estimated 200,000 white-tailed deer statewide and 31,192 deer-vehicle collisions occurring in New Jersey in 2011-2012, and significant crop damage from deer experienced by farmers every season. .

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the delegates to the 99^th State Agricultural Convention, assembled in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on February 5-6, 2014, do hereby urge the Governor, the Legislature, the New Jersey Fish and Game Council and/or the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and/or all other appropriate state, federal and local agencies to effectuate the following:

1. Urge those responsible for wildlife management on public lands, including federal, state and local lands, to establish effective, proven methods of controlling deer populations on those lands and encourage expanded hunter access on privately-held lands.
2. Work with USDA-APHIS and the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife as appropriate to expand black bird control programs in New Jersey.
3. Continue to work with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Division of Migratory Birds and the Atlantic Flyways Council to extend the statewide resident Canada goose season year-round and increase the daily bag limit and to encourage greater control strategies for migratory Canada geese.
4. Urge the Division of Fish & Wildlife to allow the use of a farm's prior year's crop damage from wildlife as the basis for issuing the current year's depredation permit instead of requiring the current year's damage be documented first in order to issue the current year's permit.
5. Increase the number of available turkey hunting permits and conduct and/or support extramural research on turkey damage.
6. Support the expansion of wildlife damage surveys and plans for New Jersey, wildlife damage research, and education at the Rutgers/NJAES Center for Wildlife Damage Control.
7. Urge the NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife to stop the practice of pulling a depredation permit if the carcass of a shot animal covered by that permit cannot be found.
8. Continue to support a science-based black bear management methodology that incorporates a hunting season as needed.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we oppose pending legislation (S-2369) that seeks to prohibit “deer baiting” by hunters in areas designated as “black bear habitat,” in part because the legislation fails to define “black bear habitat,” leaving open to interpretation of the Department of Environmental Protection what areas of the state in which someone could be charged with breaking the law, as well as leading to a further increase in the existing deer over-population that also causes millions of dollars in crop damage a year.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge those responsible for wildlife management on public lands, including federal, state and local lands, to establish effective, proven methods of controlling deer populations on those lands, as those populations frequently are in close proximity to farms and contribute greatly to crop damage annually.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the Governor and Legislature to support pending legislation that calls for moving the New Jersey Fish and Game Council and the Division of Fish and Wildlife into the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, creating a more logical alignment with USDA and its myriad of wildlife programs, and thus resulting in a better-coordinated effort to balance the needs of wildlife with those of the agricultural sector, provided that all concerns about such a realignment are addressed through a combined effort of the NJDA and NJDEP, with an eye toward accomplishing the missions of both departments..

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, legislation that requires all publicly owned lands purchased or operated with any public funds to be managed with site-specific wildlife management plans, approved by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in consultation with the Department.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge New Jersey’s Congressional Delegation to sponsor and support federal legislation to increase, by at least $400,000, the USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services budget for staffing and support for a pilot Cooperative Waterfowl Damage Management Program in New Jersey, and to implement actions in support of the “Depredation Order at Agricultural Facilities” contained in the newly-completed Environmental Impact Statement for Canada Geese.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge New Jersey’s Congressional Delegation to consider legislation authorizing and funding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to make restitution to farmers for wildlife damage to crops, livestock and bee hives and for costs incurred for materials and labor used to prevent damage caused by wildlife that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulates.