Despite pleas from animal-rights advocates, Florida wildlife officials on Wednesday approved holding a 23-day bear hunt in December that could lead to 187 bears being killed.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved rules for the state's first bear hunt in more than a decade. The hunt will take place in four regions of the state and use a lottery process for hunters to obtain permits.
Opponents announced plans to quickly file a lawsuit to fight the hunt, contending the commission hasn't followed its own rules about the need to follow a science-based approach.
"They haven't taken into consideration habitat loss for these animals, and they (bears) should actually be recognized as an endangered species," Raquel Levy, of the group Bear Warriors United, said.
But Commissioner Gary Lester said the agency's staff members brought forward "good, solid science for us to follow."
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Commissioners otherwise made few comments about the hunt during a meeting that drew an overflow crowd to the Florida Public Safety Institute in the Gadsden County community of Havana. Hunt supporters wore orange shirts, while opponents mostly sported black.
Supporters pointed, in part, to increased interactions between bears and residents.
"I've seen how these bears impact us. They have completely skyrocketed," hunter Jason Smith said. "It used to be, when I was a kid, you didn't see very many bears. Now they are all over the place. They are in our yard all of the time."
But opponents of the hunt exited the meeting yelling that the "FWC has blood on their hands" and "shame on you."
"This is solely based on greed," opponent Bella Schwartz told the commission. "Let's say even if the bears did need their population managed, we don't need trophy hunting to do that."
Officials from Gulf, Jefferson, Liberty and Franklin counties expressed support for a revival of bear hunting, which has occurred only once in the past three decades.
"Our number one responsibility is the safety and well-being of our residents. And over the past several years, black bears have become a growing part of that conversation," Liberty County Undersheriff Bobby Revell said. "We've seen a rise in service calls related to bears, bears on porches, in yards near schools and even our homes. These are not isolated incidents. They're becoming regular calls for our deputies, and they reflect real concerns families in Liberty County are living with every day."
Hunt opponents called on the commission to maintain non-lethal options for preventing bear-human interactions, such as the use of bear-proof trash containers and increased land conservation.
Among the biggest concerns of hunt opponents were the use of feeding stations, which can lure animals, and the use of dogs in hunts starting in 2027. Hunters would not be allowed to use dogs to pursue bears in December. But that would change for subsequent seasons, which are expected to run from October into December.
"The use of dogs and taking of bears within close proximity of game feeding stations creates undue harm to all bears and other wild game that has become habituated to the feeding station areas," Marge Holt, representing the Sierra Club in Central Florida, said.
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The Sierra Club used buses to transport hunt opponents from several parts of the state to Havana, after holding rallies over the weekend.
Baiting was a concern during the state's last hunt, when 305 bears were killed in two days in 2015. The hunt was cut short after being planned to last a week.
The commission contends that hunting around feeders would allow hunters to be more selective.
The rules approved Wednesday established a permit-drawing process that will be open to anyone paying a $5 entry fee. The process does not include a limit on the number of times people can enter, but people whose names are drawn will only be able to purchase a single permit.
Floridians will pay $100 for permits. Non-Floridians will be limited to 10% of the permits, which will cost them $300.
The 187-bear quota is based on a formula. The hunt is planned to be limited to 68 bears in the Apalachicola region west of Tallahassee; 46 in areas west of Jacksonville; 18 in an area north of Orlando; and 55 in the Big Cypress region southwest of Lake Okeechobee.
The state had an estimated 4,050 bears in 2015, considered the most recent figures by the commission.
Bears were on the state list of threatened species from 1974 to 2012, until a biological status review determined they were no longer at high risk of extinction.
Over the past 50 years, the state has recorded 42 incidents in which wild bears have made physical contact with people, with the first recorded fatal bear attack occurring in May, when an 89-year-old Collier County man and his dog were killed.
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