A bill that would have allowed farmers to obtain a state permit to hunt bears and other wildlife under certain circumstances failed to make it out of the legislature's Environment Committee.  In a close 18 to 13 vote, the bill was rejected on Monday.  The permits would have been issued for hunting of animals responsible for damaging or destroying livestock, poultry, bees and agricultural crops.

Kent state Representative Maria Horn ended up voting against legislation, despite being torn on the vote.  She and other hunting opponents on the committee said the state should be exploring non-lethal means of managing nuisance bears, such as through public education and restrictions on the feeding of bears, including punishment for violators.  Horn says aversive conditioning, using a negative stimuli – shooting with rubber bullets or paintballs, pepper spray, loud noises – to cause pain, avoidance, or irritation to an animal engaged in an unwanted behavior, can work.  The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection says research has shown limited effectiveness.

New Milford Senator Craig Miner has been trying to come up with a compromise on how to manage the state’s growing bear population. He argued that the growing bear population in Litchfield County is becoming so unmanageable that hunting should at least be an option because nuisance bears not only cause property damage, but pose a safety risk to people.  Miner added that bear attacks on livestock are vicious, bloody and deadly.

In 2021, approximately 8,600 bear sightings from 156 of Connecticut’s 169 towns were reported to state wildlife officials. There have been nearly 500 since January.