Floridians will get to hear and weigh in on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s proposals for “highly regulated black bear hunting” this week, during a series of virtual public meetings held by the state agency on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. All three of the meetings will cover the same material, meaning interested participants only need to attend one, according to FWC.
Some 200 people tuned into a March 13 virtual meeting FWC held on the same issue, where many of the written public comments expressed strong opposition to the idea of a bear hunt, and concern that Florida’s bear population doesn’t support a hunting season.
“Why do we have to have ANY bear hunting at all? We have a BEAR license tag in the State of Florida and it appears as though we protect our bears, not hunt them down!” reads one written comment.
Other comments voiced support for the idea of a bear hunt, with limitations. “I support a full fall season with a hard stop once a predetermined number of bears have been taken,” one written comment read.
FWC has been considering potential bear hunt options since December, when FWC commissioners directed staff to do so and to bring proposals back to a future meeting. That direction from commissioners followed staff’s presentation on FWC’s progress to date on a Florida black bear management plan approved in 2019.
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Florida’s last bear hunting season was in the fall of 2015, yielding a total 304 hunted or “harvested” bears, according to FWC. Of the four regions open for bear hunting at that time, the most bears were hunted or “harvested” in the agency’s Central Bear Management Unit, which includes 13 counties in East Central Florida. There, 143 bears were “harvested,” per FWC.
More information about potential bear hunting in Florida is available from FWC, and instructions for how to participate in this week’s virtual meetings are below:
- April 2 from 12 – 3 p.m. EDT: Virtual meeting via Zoom
- To join the meeting by telephone, dial-in (if needed): +1 305 224 1968 (United States) and enter Conference ID: 96561628155#
- April 3 from 5 – 8 p.m. EDT: Virtual meeting via Zoom
- To join the meeting by telephone, dial-in (if needed): +1 305 224 1968 (United States) and enter Conference ID: 94803064202#
- April 5 from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. EDT: Virtual meeting via Zoom
- To join the meeting by telephone, dial-in (if needed): +1 305 224 1968 (United States) and enter Conference ID: 91550331906#
