ForestWatch and our partners defeated a scientifically-unsound proposal to open the first-ever hunting season for black bears in San Luis Obispo County. The hunt was first announced in 2009, even though state wildlife officials didn’t know how many bears resided in the county nor whether a hunt would be sustainable. Hundreds of residents wrote letters, urging state wildlife officials to conduct a scientifically-defensible population survey.
In response to overwhelming public outcry, officials cancelled the 2009 hunt. But the proposal was resurrected a year later after officials estimated 1,067 bears lived in the County. ForestWatch teamed up with the Humane Society of the United States, wildlife attorney Bill Yeates, and Dr. Rick Hopkins—one of the state’s most preeminent bear biologists—to demand that the Department undertake a scientifically-defensible population survey based on genetic sampling. The Department then cancelled the 2010 hunt and agreed to undertake a more thorough count of black bears in San Luis Obispo County. That study concluded that the County’s bear population was 90% smaller than initial estimates and that bear hunting would not be sustainable.
ForestWatch’s leadership on this issue has secured a safer future for black bears, and biologists now have a better understanding of bear populations in SLO County.
