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“Bears are a symbol that not all of New Jersey has been paved over by subdivisions and strip malls. A lot of people living in bear country oppose the hunt, but it’s hard to sell condos to people from Brooklyn if bears are going through the neighborhood.”
—Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, discusses the state's annual black bear hunt, which runs through Saturday.
Jersey bears aren't technically "black" — it's just a very deep tan, combined with lots of body hair.
FWIW, a good friend who's a shop foreman with the Jersey Teachers Union (and delegate to the Socialist Workers Congress), keeps food on the table with that hunt. Sad. If they paid teachers decently, he might get his meat off the meat tree.
Trend piece: people from Brooklyn are moving to Jersey?!?!?
@Clarence Rosario They come for the wide open spaces and stay for the taylor ham.
@Clarence Rosario That's been a trend for a while. Meanhattanites in creative professions moved to Brooklyn in the 80s and 90s. Got married and couldn't afford the space for kids in Brooklyn, and moved to West Orange.
Fun fact: I once almost had my face on the front page of The Star-Ledger on day one of the bear hunt. (Thankfully I was mostly hidden behind one of several photographers crowding around the bed of a pickup truck to shoot the furry corpse inside.)
Also, Jeff Tittel is easily the most quoted man in New Jersey. Every reporter in the state has his cell number, and I'm pretty sure he sets aside an hour a day to brainstorm bon mots for the next day's papers.