For the past 20 years, bear hunting in Florida has been prohibited with the population considered too small to survive hunting. Recently, bears have been appearing in built up areas posing a threat to pets and people. In September, 2014, after wandering around town, a 300 pound bear was captured in the shrubbery of an oceanfront condominium in Jacksonville Beach, FL. It had probably swum across the Intracoastal Waterway looking for a space not occupied by another bear. The bear was released in Camp Blanding. Similar incidents around the state led Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to consider resuming bear hunts.
On October 24 of this year, a hunting season will begin with a limit of 320 bears to be taken. Opponents of the hunt have challenged it in court and the FWC is asking for dismissal. See following article from Florida Forestry Assn.
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Lawyers for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission asked a circuit court judge on Tuesday to toss out a lawsuit by a conservation group and a Central Florida man aimed at blocking Florida’s first bear hunt in more than 20 years.
FWC approved the hunt in April, and the hunt is set to last at least two days starting Oct. 24.
There is no limit on how many permits will be issued. More than 1,900 hunters have applied. The hunt can be called off after the third day when the quota of 320 bears is reached, although opponents argue that number will likely be exceeded.
FWC argues that the hunt is needed because the state’s bear population of roughly 3,000 has grown too large and bears are now forced out of their habitat to search for food in neighborhood trash cans.
Lawyers for the commission argue that the hunt is in the public interest, that the hunt would not cause irreparable harm to the species itself and that the plaintiffs in the suit had not met the strict legal requirements needed to challenge the commission’s authority.
“Stabilizing the bear population through a limited hunt will allow the Commission to maintain bears at appropriate population levels in suitable habitats… which will benefit the long term survival potential of the species,” the brief on behalf of FWC states.
Chuck O’Neal, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, told POLITICO Florida on Tuesday that the hunt contradicts the commission’s constitutional goal of conserving and protecting Florida wildlife, and that it is not based on sound science.
O’Neal said the commission has "evolved into a private hunt club who feel that they’re no longer accountable to the public.”
He also said that the Florida black bear population is its own subspecies, one that was listed on the state’s threatened species list as recently as 2012.
"It’s the difference between having a hunting season on deer and having a hunting season on key deer,” O’Neal said. “There are only 3,000 to 3,500 [Florida black bears] in existence on the entire planet, we have 19 million people in this state, and yet to say we have too many Florida black bears is a test of credulity."
O’Neal thinks the solution to bears coming into neighborhoods and eating out of trash cans is to restore their natural food supply and educate people.
A hearing on the case is scheduled for Thursday.
You can read the complaint here: http://politi.co/1iJtXSp
You can read FWC's response here: http://politi.co/1P4y6gt
FWC approved the hunt in April, and the hunt is set to last at least two days starting Oct. 24.
There is no limit on how many permits will be issued. More than 1,900 hunters have applied. The hunt can be called off after the third day when the quota of 320 bears is reached, although opponents argue that number will likely be exceeded.
FWC argues that the hunt is needed because the state’s bear population of roughly 3,000 has grown too large and bears are now forced out of their habitat to search for food in neighborhood trash cans.
Lawyers for the commission argue that the hunt is in the public interest, that the hunt would not cause irreparable harm to the species itself and that the plaintiffs in the suit had not met the strict legal requirements needed to challenge the commission’s authority.
“Stabilizing the bear population through a limited hunt will allow the Commission to maintain bears at appropriate population levels in suitable habitats… which will benefit the long term survival potential of the species,” the brief on behalf of FWC states.
Chuck O’Neal, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, told POLITICO Florida on Tuesday that the hunt contradicts the commission’s constitutional goal of conserving and protecting Florida wildlife, and that it is not based on sound science.
O’Neal said the commission has "evolved into a private hunt club who feel that they’re no longer accountable to the public.”
He also said that the Florida black bear population is its own subspecies, one that was listed on the state’s threatened species list as recently as 2012.
"It’s the difference between having a hunting season on deer and having a hunting season on key deer,” O’Neal said. “There are only 3,000 to 3,500 [Florida black bears] in existence on the entire planet, we have 19 million people in this state, and yet to say we have too many Florida black bears is a test of credulity."
O’Neal thinks the solution to bears coming into neighborhoods and eating out of trash cans is to restore their natural food supply and educate people.
A hearing on the case is scheduled for Thursday.
You can read the complaint here: http://politi.co/1iJtXSp
You can read FWC's response here: http://politi.co/1P4y6gt
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