California BHA Drafts Resolution in Support of a Second Bear Tag & Submits a Petition to the Fish & Game Commission

After many years advocating for science-based management of fish and wildlife, California BHA celebrates the release of the Final Black Bear Conservation Plan and has submitted a petition to the Fish & Game Commission seeking to amend Title 14, § 708.12 - Bear License Tags, to allow for a second bear tag.

Take Action to sign the following resolution which will be presented to the Fish & Game Commission at an upcoming meeting. BHA will be working with CDFW to advance a variety of management tools to address the overpopulation of bears in California and this is just the first step in that process. 

• 1948: Black bears classified as a game mammal in California.  

• 1980: Population estimated between 10,000 and 15,000 bears. Over time hunting regulations were made more restrictive, prohibiting trapping, killing of cubs or sows with cubs, and a reduction in the bag limit from two to one bear per license year. 

• 1998: Black bear management plan published which estimated the CA black bear population between 17,000 and 23,000 bears. Notably, the plan indicated an increase in the bear population and documented an expansion of black bears along the Central Coast and Southern California. 

• 2012: Hunting with dogs banned by the CA legislature and harvest rates dropped by nearly 50% the following year. 2012 was the last year the bear hunting quota was met. 

• 2021: SB252 ‘The Bear Protection Act’ introduced to ban bear hunting only to be withdrawn one week later following fierce backlash from the hunting community including BHA’s California Chapter. 
  • California BHA partners with CDFW to host black bear hunting 101 seminar.

• 2022: A petition requesting a moratorium on bear hunting submitted to the CA Fish & Game Commission citing climate change, wildfire and over harvest of bears. The petitioner argued the bear population was as low as 10,000 bears compared to CDFW’s estimates of 20,000 to 30,000 bears.
  • BHA and 25 other conservation organizations submitted multiple letters to the Fish and Game Commission compiling all the best available science on black bears in California to refute the claims made in the petition.
  • BHA also mobilized grass roots engagement from thousands of individuals who signed a letter opposing the petition.
  • CDFW presented findings to the Fish & Game Commission utilizing a new integrated population model that accounted for the decrease in harvest success following hounding ban. Fish & Game Commission rejected the 2022 petition based on the latest bear population estimate of around 35,000. 
  • BHA hosts black bear seminar and hunting camp in the Eastern Sierra with former CDFW Biologist Justin Dellinger.

• 2023: BHA fundraised $8k for a black bear population study with UC Davis and Lassen National Park to assist with CDFW’s efforts to update the black bear management plan. (California BHA contributed $5k and California Bowmen Hunters contributed $3k). 
  • BHA hosts Native Fish Project and Bear Hunting Camp in the Eastern Sierra

• 2024: BHA hosts Native Fish Project and Bear Hunting Camp in the Eastern Sierra for the Second year

• 2025: CDFW releases the updated California Black Bear Conservation Plan and estimates a total statewide black bear population of 59,851 (5-year average, 2020–2024) using the new integrated population model with currently available data.

• 2025: BHA petitions the CA Fish & Game Commission to allow for a second bear tag.

TAKE ACTION