Rant follows:
IMHO, by allowing the "antis" to influence their decisions, the politicians created a situation that's not easily remedied.
It's not just Sussex County anymore....
The NJ bear population was allowed to grow until it got to the point where many bears were forced to establish territories in populated areas. A bear season in the 80s and 90s might have done some good.
Now we have bears, who don't have any reason to fear humans, thriving in areas too densely populated to hunt.
They're not being controlled by the hunt.
In Oakland, we had a boar, that fed at a dumpster behind a K-5 school cafeteria, who refused to be chased away.
After the DFW finally relocated him, he came back (or possibly one just like him took over).
At another K-5 school, the custodians started leaving the gate to the dumpster open, so the bear would stop tearing it down.
The principal can "lockdown" a school, but the police aren't allowed to do much unless the animal is menacing someone.