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DNR Commission votes to dump the last of the WV Bear Sanctuaries
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by Paul Wilson | 2007

We used to have 4 Bear Sanctuaries. Now we have none!

At the April 29th meeting of the West Virginia Dept of Natural Resources Commission in Flatwoods, the Commission voted 3-2 to open the Cranberry Bear Sanctuary to bear hunting.

There was a time when WV had four sanctuaries for black bears (Ursus americanus), established in the early 1970’s to provide protection and ensure viable breeding populations for West Virginia’s bear hunters. And there was a time when WV’s bear hunters supported those sanctuaries.

Now with a vibrant bear population throughout the state, the Wildlife Section, at the behest of some bear  hunting organizations, has repeatedly asked the Commission to open the bear sanctuaries to bear hunting. Under a referendum passed a few years ago, bear hunters can train their hunting hounds year around on public lands in West Virginia. So now they can train their dogs and hunt bears in the Cranberry Wilderness, as well as all other public lands in the Mountain State.

For the Cranberry Sanctuary, the DNR’s professional biologists presented no population data, but cited some public safety concerns as bears have been frequenting the campgrounds that are located on the periphery of the Cranberry Wilderness.

I spoke out against opening the Cranberry Sanctuary to bear hunting, citing a couple of studies on smaller sanctuaries in the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina, and providing a short bibliography of studies and articles on bear sanctuaries. I also provided information on the Club’s Bear Aware program that produces conservation education materials on hiking and camping in bear country.

Curiously, none of the DNR biologists questioned those studies, or considered educating the public on keeping a clean campsite, or even considered the use of the Cranberry Sanctuary as a biological control for future studies of black bears in West Virginia.

Additionally, outgoing Commissioner Twila Metheney queried the DNR staff on why her requests for data and studies on this issue had been ignored. DNR biologists apologized, but were either ignorant of Commissioner Metheney’s requests or just plain ignored them. Metheney then asked a pertinent question: “when did we become a rod and gun club?”