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Former state senator brings 'stop the bear hunt' arguments to NJ appeals court

July 22, 2025

From Bruce A. Scruton, New Jersey Herald
Originally published February 4, 2025 (updated February 5, 2025)

A New Jersey appellate court heard arguments Tuesday on a former state senator's appeal challenging the state's annual bear hunt in the northwestern part of the state.

A Superior Court judge in Mercer County last year ruled against Raymond Lesniak's challenge to the state's annual bear hunt using the argument that the state Fish and Game Council — which sets hunting and fishing regulations — is ruled by a "private entity" because six of the 11 council members come from the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, an umbrella organization with county chapters and affiliated members representing segments of outdoor recreation activities.

In addition to the six sportsmen's club members, three are farmers recommended by the state agricultural convention and one is a public member "knowledgeable in land use management and soil conservation practices." All are appointed by the governor.

The last spot, by a 1970s law, is filled by the chairman of the Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee. That committee is formulated by the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection of experts to advise the commissioner on environmental issues.

Lesniak served in the state Legislature as an assemblyman from 1978 to 1983 and in the Senate from 1983 through 2017. He has argued against the bear hunt since it was reinstituted in 2003 to control the growing bear population. There had been no bear hunting for about 30 years.

The bear hunt has since been an on-again, off-again fight in the courts and the arena of public opinion, with the Fish and Game Council recommending there be a hunt in northwestern New Jersey because of the growing numbers of bears. There were an estimated 100 in 1971, confined to the northwestern forest, but the population had grown to more than 3,000 when the hunt was brought back, and it has expanded to include reports of bears across the entire state.

Lesniak based much of his argument to the three-member appellate panel on assertions of how the six members of the federation constitute a "private party" with control of the Fish and Game Council, a situation he said violates state statutes.

Asked by Judge Avis Bishop-Thompson about his claim of "unconstitutional delegation of power," and any council decision still needing commissioner approval, Lesniak answered: "I have two responses to that."

He noted that the majority vote gives the sportsmen's club "managerial responsibility" and "the commissioner has no say about that."

Lesniak said the Sportsmen's Club constitutes a "private agency" is setting policy, which violates the state constitution's establishment of three branches, adding that "the club is not one of those three branches."

"So we're stuck; we're stuck with an unconstitutional situation," Lesniak said.

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