The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will take up a final vote Wednesday on a controversial proposal for a regulated bear hunt that would begin later this year, for a 23-day period in December. From there, bear hunting season dates would fluctuate annually based on population numbers and management objectives, but would be confined to October 1-December 31, according to the agency.
The pending final vote follows FWC commissioners' initial, 4-1 vote in May to move forward with drafting rules for a bear hunt. Those proposed rules include details about special permits for large landowners, plus protocols for hunting bears at feeding stations and the use of dogs to assist with bear hunts.
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Across Florida and beyond, the proposal has stirred controversy, illustrated by the hundreds of people who spoke out against the idea during earlier public workshops and held protests across the state last weekend. The nonprofit Bear Warriors United has announced it is suing FWC, and raising money for its legal defense fund.
For its part, FWC maintains national and state bear populations are stable and growing. But opponents of the proposed hunt are concerned about rising bear fatalities from vehicle collisions, a problem FWC has acknowledged. Of all known bear deaths in the state, vehicle collisions are responsible for 90%, according to the agency.
The agency's bear management unit covering Central Florida includes more bears than anywhere else in the state: 1,198, based on the agency's most recent, scientifically-valid population estimate from 2015, according to FWC. That year, ten years ago, is when Florida held its last regulated bear hunt. At that time, 304 bears statewide were "harvested" — the term the state uses to refer to bears hunted and killed — in two days.
This time around, though, FWC will vote on a bear hunting season that would last longer, about three weeks. The reasoning for that is to allow hunters more time to be selective of the bears they "harvest," according to the agency.
Overall, FWC's goal is for the proposed bear hunt to help control population growth proactively, before the state runs out of habitat for the species.
"Our analysis indicates that we have enough bear habitat to support our minimum and current bear population levels. However, suitable habitat could be limited at some point in the future if we maintain the current annual growth rates we have estimated for our four largest subpopulations," reads an FWC webpage dedicated to addressing questions about the proposed bear hunt.
FWC's meeting in Havana is scheduled for August 13 and 14, beginning at 8:30 a.m. on both days. The bear hunt rules are among the first items listed on August 13's agenda. Members of the public can tune in virtually via the Florida Channel.
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