There is still hope for NC bears living in the Pisgah, Panthertown-Bonas Defeat, and Standing Indian Bear Sanctuaries.

On Tuesday, April 5, 2022, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission met with stakeholders at the Tri-County Community College in the McSwain Building Lecture Hall to discuss their recently adopted rules that change "designated bear sanctuaries to "designated bear management areas" and allows bear hunting and hunting with dogs in the Pisgah, Panthertown-Bonas Defeat, and Standing Indian Bear Sanctuaries. Our friends in attendance said the entire room was packed with both bear advocates and hunters. During the meeting, Representative Gillespie asked everyone who was in favor of opening up the bear sanctuaries to raise their hands. Not a single person raised their hand. All of the people in attendance, including the hunters, oppose the new rule that allows hunting in the three designated bear sanctuaries. Representative Gillespie followed up by asking the NCWRC "to go back and take another look at it and make sure it's in the best interest of what you're chartered to do."

The NCWRC agreed. However, the bears are not safe yet, and we need your help to stop the new rule from being approved by the Rules Review Commission (RRC). We will be sharing the next steps to take to reverse the NCWRC's newly adopted rule shortly.

Please sign & share our petition.
https://chng.it/j6CSTxzzfz

Stay tuned for calls to action!

Photo credit
https://www.billlea.com/