headlines
(from MD DNR)
In January 2002, Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary J. Charles Fox convened a Black Bear Task Force comprised of eleven Maryland citizens representing different stakeholder groups interested in black bear management. The citizen task force is charged with reviewing all aspects of black bear management in Maryland. The task force will also solicit public opinion and offer recommendations to DNR regarding the management of this important species.

(from Cumberland Times-News article 10/20/02)
"During earlier discussion, however, the two members of animal rights organizations, Susan Hagood of the Humane Society of the United States and Mike Markarian of Fund for Animals, made it clear that their groups could not be associated with a report that recommends hunting."

(from MD Hunter Alert 10/20/02)
MD Black Bear Task Force Recommends Bear Hunt
The Task Force, made up of various users groups, including two of the largest animal rights groups; HSUS & Fund for Animals, have recommended a limited bear hunt!

Can you imagine the diarrhea going around the animal rights circles with that headline?

They accepted to be a part of the Task Force and now that they are not getting their way they say, "their groups could not be associated with a report that recommends hunting"! Excuse me, but wasn’t hunting always an option from the beginning of this Task Force? Did their principles change sometime during all of the meetings or was it their intention all along to pull this stunt? As members of the Task Force they are part of the decision to recommend a bear hunt no matter how loudly they proclaim otherwise.

If they disassociate themselves from the final recommendations then they should have never accepted membership in the Task Force. For them to disassociate themselves because the Task Force is recommending a bear hunt means that they would only be associated with recommendations against having a bear hunt.

I say they can’t have it just their way. If they expect to be on any task force, commission, board, or invited to any meeting concerning wildlife management then they need to accept responsibility for their participation, or they should not be allowed to be a part of any.