I'm am grateful that the…

I'm am grateful that the MNRF has the scientific expertise to conduct the research informing potential changes to the management of black bears on the Bruce Peninsula, where I reside. Given the troubling results of the most recent population viability analysis, I support all efforts to reduce human-caused mortality to our black bears.

Given the well documented annual increases in tourism and development in our area, I foresee concomitant increases in the threats to black bears arising from: road mortality, habitat loss & fragmentation and human-bear interactions. In the face of this, I question the need for any open hunting season for this species.

Thus, I support (1) ongoing population monitoring and research collaborations and (2) efforts to reduce human-cause mortality; however, I feel that this proposal falls short in allowing any harvest.

I would like to see a moratorium on the harvest of black bears until a population viability model, incorporating trends in the above-mentioned risks, indicates that this population can be hunted sustainably.