A rule-making petition is a powerful tool that asks a state agency to change or eliminate one of its rules. The rule-making petition filed by APLNJ/Bear Group and a coalition of organizations asks the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to strike its bear hunting policy, repealing the rule that made it legal to hunt bears.

Granting the petition does not instantly stop the hunt, but it would start the administrative process to repeal the current bear policy. The New Jersey state Supreme Court has ruled that without a bear policy, the state cannot hold a bear hunt.