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By Megan Goldsby KCBS Radio

a day agohttps://omny.fm/shows/kcbsam-on-demand/should-bear-hunting-be-banned/embed?style=cover

A Bay Area state senator is trying to ban bear hunting in California, but the hunting and wildlife lobby is pushing back.

San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener said the ban on hunting black bears would stop the animal from going the way of the brown bear.

“Brown bears are extinct in California due to being hunted to extinction,” he told KCBS Radio.

Wiener said the ban would follow bans on hunting bobcats in the state, and the use of hounds to track bears while hunting.

“I’m not criticizing anyone for hunting,” the state senator noted. “A lot of people do want to hunt. But, we also have the obligation to take a step back as Californians and look at what our values are. A lot of people are, frankly, surprised to hear that we still allow recreational black bear hunting.”https://246cbe00e86fb69bfa10c02104a82a9d.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

Bill Gaines is not one of them. He’s the principal at Gaines and Associates, which lobbies for wildlife-related issues.

Gaines told KCBS Radio that of the 40 senate districts in California, only one of them does not have a bear in it.

“But the other 39 senate districts do have problems with bears, and eliminating the ability to hunt them is going to eliminate the ability to manage them,” he said.https://246cbe00e86fb69bfa10c02104a82a9d.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

Gaines said bears have been breaking into cabins in Tahoe and ruining beekeepers’ livings by knocking over their hives.

Plus, he added, money raised by bear hunting supports conservation efforts.

“You have to buy a bear tag,” Gaines said. “They’re roughly about $50, and those monies go into what we call the big game management account, which is administered by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.”https://246cbe00e86fb69bfa10c02104a82a9d.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

Wiener doesn’t think that justifies hunting bears.

“We definitely should be funding conservation efforts, but to suggest that the only way we can fund it is by allowing hunting of bears – I just don’t agree with that argument,” he said. “We could also take the position, ‘well, we want more conservation money so let’s quadruple the number of bear tags that we issue

https://www.radio.com/kcbsradio/news/local/should-california-ban-bear-hunting