Bears and a Proposal to Hunt Them Take Center Stage at Public Hearing
The state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection reported a record number of incidents related to bears last year, including an incident in West Hartford where a homeowner found a bear in his kitchen. DEEP unsuccessfully tried to trap that bear.
By Hugh McQuaid, CTNewsJunkie.com
Connecticut lawmakers weighed legalizing bear hunting during a Friday hearing on a bill backed by the governor’s administration and intended to address an escalating number of conflicts between humans and the animals, including at least two attacks last year.
The legislature’s Environment Committee heard public testimony on a bill that would create a lottery-based hunting season in Litchfield County, where most of the animals are concentrated, being landlocked on the west half of the state by the Connecticut River and the combined deterrent of I-91 and I-84, which together bisect the state’s northwest corner.
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