IMPORTANT UPDATE

Victory for Mississippi’s Black Bears!!!

Mississippi Senate Bill 2436 failed in its final vote in the Mississippi House of Representatives yesterday (3/10/2026), with 60 votes opposed and 50 in favor. This outcome is an important victory for Mississippi’s recovering black bear population, which is still rebuilding after being pushed to the brink of extinction.

Thank you to everyone who signed and shared our petition and took action to speak up for these bears. Because of you, Mississippi’s black bears will not be subjected to a trophy hunting season at this time.

Please consider sending a brief note of appreciation to the House Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Committee members who voted NO on SB 2436: banderson@house.ms.gov, pbailey@house.ms.gov, sbounds@house.ms.gov, bevans@house.ms.gov, kgibbs@house.ms.gov, koliver@house.ms.gov, pwallace@house.ms.gov

Rep. Brent Anderson
banderson@house.ms.gov

Rep. Perry Bailey
pbailey@house.ms.gov

Rep. C. Scott Bounds
sbounds@house.ms.gov

Rep. Bob Evans
bevans@house.ms.gov

Rep. Karl Gibbs
kgibbs@house.ms.gov

Rep. Karl Oliver
koliver@house.ms.gov

Rep. Price Wallace
pwallace@house.ms.gov

We will also share contact information for additional Representatives who voted NO on the final House floor vote shortly.

___________________________________

We, the undersigned, call upon members of the Mississippi House of Representatives to vote NO on Senate Bill 2436, legislation that would establish a black bear hunting season beginning in 2027-2028. 

Protect Mississippi’s black bears for future generations.
Mississippi’s black bears were nearly eradicated in the early twentieth century. By 1932, habitat loss and unregulated hunting had reduced the population to an estimated twelve bears statewide, a genetic and ecological bottleneck from which recovery was uncertain. When the species was listed as endangered in 1984, numbers remained perilously low. For decades thereafter, survival depended on protection, legal safeguards, habitat regeneration, and gradual immigration from neighboring states.

Today, after more than forty years of endangered status, the statewide population is estimated at only 150-300+ bears. That figure is not evidence of overpopulation. It is evidence of a fragile recovery still underway.

SB 2436 would strip existing protections and mandate the creation of a hunting season without a publicly available, comprehensive, peer-reviewed statewide population estimate or viability analysis demonstrating that a bear hunt is necessary or biologically sustainable.

Population growth from near-extinction to the low hundreds does not represent an overabundant bear population, nor does it justify establishing a bear hunting season. 

Black bears are slow to reproduce and slow to recover. 

Before authorizing a hunt, the State bears the legal and scientific burden of demonstrating that the population is secure across its current and expanding range, that a hunt will not impair long-term genetic and demographic viability, and that non-lethal conflict mitigation strategies have been fully implemented and proven inadequate. That burden has not been met.

Black bears are opportunistic omnivores. The overwhelming driver of conflict is food conditioning, unsecured garbage, pet food, apiaries, agricultural attractants, and other human-derived food sources.

Decades of research across North America demonstrate that killing bears does not reduce or eliminate bear-human conflicts. Effective conflict prevention depends on securing waste, modifying attractants, and sustained public education. A bear hunting season is not a substitute for a responsible coexistence policy.

If public safety is the Legislature’s concern, it should mandate:

Bear-resistant waste infrastructure in high-conflict areas, dedicate funding for community education, and expand non-lethal conflict-response programs.

Under the Public Trust Doctrine, wildlife is held in trust for all citizens, present and future, not for a narrow interest seeking recreational opportunity.

We respectfully urge lawmakers to ground their decisions in the best available scientific evidence and to enact policies that protect both public safety and ecological integrity. Decades of research in wildlife biology demonstrate that human-bear conflicts are driven primarily by human behaviors, particularly unsecured food attractants, not by population size alone. Accordingly, proven non-lethal strategies, including attractant management, public education, and habitat stewardship, are the most effective and sustainable tools for reducing conflict.

Authorizing a bear hunting season in the absence of critical population data and a clear scientific justification or a true public safety risk undermines decades of conservation progress. Sound governance requires restraint where the science does not justify lethal intervention. Prematurely instituting a hunt, without demonstrable need, could tip the scales of the state’s fragile black bear recovery into a preventable regression.

Take Action Now

Contact members of the House Wildlife Fisheries and Parks Committee and urge them to vote NO on SB 2436. Please be respectful in your delivery and simply say "VOTE NO on SB 2436." For a quick response, copy and paste the email addresses listed below, or email each representative individually. Please include the link to our petition. 

bkinkade@house.ms.gov, jfondren@house.ms.gov, banderson@house.ms.gov, pbailey@house.ms.gov, sbarnett@house.ms.gov, cblackwell@house.ms.gov, sbounds@house.ms.gov, lcarpenter@house.ms.gov, bevans@house.ms.gov,  kgibbs@house.ms.gov, jhale@house.ms.gov, dharris@house.ms.gov, jkeen@house.ms.gov, tlamar@house.ms.gov, vmangold@house.ms.gov, cmansell@house.ms.gov, bmattox@house.ms.gov, kmorgan@house.ms.gov, koliver@house.ms.gov,  jtubb@house.ms.gov, pwallace@house.ms.gov 

 

• Rep. Bill Kinkade (Chairman) 

Email: bkinkade@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Jimmy Fondren (Vice Chairman)

Email: jfondren@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Brent Anderson 

Email: banderson@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Perry Bailey 

Email: pbailey@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Shane Barnett 

Email: sbarnett@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Charles Blackwell 

Email: cblackwell@house.ms.gov

• Rep. C. Scott Bounds

Email:  sbounds@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Lester Carpenter

Email: lcarpenter@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Bob Evans 

Email: bevans@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Karl Gibbs

Email: kgibbs@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Jeff Hale

Email: jhale@house.ms.gov

• Rep. W. I. 'Doc' Harris

Email: dharris@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Justin Keen

Email: jkeen@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Trey Lamar

Email: tlamar@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Vince Mangold

Email; vmangold@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Clay Mansell 

Email: cmansell@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Brad Mattox

Email: bmattox@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Ken Morgan

Email: kmorgan@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Karl Oliver

Email: koliver@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Joseph Tubb

Email: jtubb@house.ms.gov

• Rep. Price Wallace 

Email: pwallace@house.ms.gov

 

Please stay tuned for updates and calls to action.

Thank you for your advocacy.