"I recognize this is a tough thing to talk about. It's hard. There's a lot of emotions about it. But emotions don't drive wildlife policy." That was Travis Thompson speaking in support of a bear hunt at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's (FWC) meeting in May.
The FWC voted 4-1 to move forward with the state's first bear hunt in a decade. The final decision will be made in August, with the hunt expected in December. Then, the FWC is planning annual bear hunts that would happen sometime between October 1st and December 31st.
170 people spoke during public comments at the meeting, most against, and many referred to the last bear hunt in 2015.
"Many of us were there. There were a lot of cubs in the back of trucks. Forty percent of those bears were lactating females, so the rules were not followed," said Jamie Dos Santos.
We delve into the bear hunt on this week's Speaking Of.
WFSU sent out a survey in June asking our audience to weigh in on the anticipated bear hunt. 717 people took the survey, and nearly three-quarters of respondents said the proposal makes them feel sad or angry.
Wildlife managers say hunting is a tool for managing the black bear population and keeping them from interacting with people. Opponents say there are ways to solve these problems that don't involve killing bears, such as keeping trash cans secured.
Florida had its first recorded fatal bear attack in May. An 89-year-old Collier County man and his dog were killed. The News Service of Florida reports that the state has recorded 42 incidents since the 1970s of wild bears making physical contact with people.
Florida's bear hunt in 2015 was abruptly halted because bears were killed so quickly. The state had a quota of 320 bears to be taken over the course of a week. But 304 were killed in the first two days. So, a third day would have resulted in many more bears killed than the state planned. The FWC says the rules for the hunt being drawn up now will ensure that kind of situation does not happen this year.
"Rather than having a hunt that allowed as many hunters as they wanted to participate and then ending when you reach a quota, this would only allow a quota to have the number of hunters participating for the number of allocated tags," said FWC Chief Conservation Officer George Warthen at the May meeting.
The state estimates Florida has just over 4000 bears statewide. That's not much compared to states with sizable bear populations like Alaska and California. Still, Franklin County Sheriff AJ "Tony" Smith has been vocal about increased interactions between bears and residents.
"I love the bears. I don't want to see bears killed," Smith says. "But bears cannot live in the same area where people are living."
We wondered how Florida's plans compare to other states that have bear hunts.
Katherine Sayler of Defenders of Wildlife says, "This proposal kind of takes some of the worst parts of all other Southern states and puts it into a single proposal."
Sayler works with the FWC on unrelated issues and attended all the bear hunt hearings.
"For places like Louisiana, it's 'still hunt' only. 'Still hunt' means you can't run after them with dogs and chase a bear down," Sayler says. Florida will allow bow hunting and more, she says, "all methods: dogs, baiting, all the things for a long period of time."
Some observers have mixed feelings about bear hunting, like Joe Guthrie. He's a research biologist at Archbold Biological Station in Venus.
"There's some risk in beginning to manage the black bear as a game animal, muddying that a little, knocking it down a peg in terms of its symbolic importance to conservation."
Guthrie is an expert on apex predators, like bears. That means nothing is hunting them for food. Guthrie says he is a lifelong hunter, not of bears.
"I'm encouraged that it seems like there will be a limited number of permits issued because that means there will be a limited number of legal hunters out there that the agencies have to keep track of and enforce the rules for," Guthrie says. "Seems likely there will be some opportunists and poachers. That's always been the case. That will always be the case, that we'll have to fight as hard as we can against them."
Assuming the FWC approves the hunt, a drawing will determine who gets an allotted 187 permits. The application costs five dollars, then those who get the permits will pay $100 for in-state residents and $300 for those who live out of state.
We were under the impression that FWC has recommended against holding a bear hunt, but FWC's George Warthen told us that is not the case. He clarifies that and more, plus we hear from other voices on both sides of the bear hunt. Hear the full segment by clicking LISTEN above.
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