THE bear hunting season in New Jersey has long been over, but it looks as if the controversy will probably never end.

The hunt is coming under fire again in the Garden State as anti-hunters have introduced a bill that would ban bear hunting, fund the animal rights agenda and strip the wildlife agency of its management authority.

Assemblyman Michael Panter, D-Red Bank, introduced AB 525, a bill that would take away the Fish and Game Commission’s and Dept. of Environmental Protection’s authority to regulate bear hunting. Bear management would instead be placed in the hands of a Black Bear Study Commission, which would be appointed by the governor with reserved seats for anti-hunting and environmental groups, including the Humane Society of the United States. There are no reserved seats for sportsmen.

The commission would be given $10,000 of taxpayer money to waste on the examination of costly, ineffective, non-lethal bear controls. It would also be mandated to create a black bear stamp program to pay for damages caused by the state’s overabundant black bear population.

New Jersey sportsmen should ask their state assembly members to oppose AB 525. To contact your state assemblyman, call (609) 292-4840 or use the Legislative Action Center at http://www.ussportsmen.org.

ken.moran@nypost.com