Talks move forward for FWC-sanctioned black bear hunt. What we know – Daily Commercial

Is a new proposed Florida black bear hunt intended for safety or sportsmanship?
A need to control the growing bear population in Florida has been at the center of a heated debate over the past year.
A proposed solution involves a black bear “harvest.” If approved, Florida hunters may very well celebrate this holiday season with three weeks of bear hunting.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is working on a plan to issue 187 permits to hunt black bears in mid-December. A permit allows the killing of just one bear. 
In the past, FWC staffers have advised against a bear hunt, claiming that the current bear population does not require killing them.
The Ocala National Forest is home to Florida’s largest population of black bears, reports the National Forest Foundation — more than a quarter of the state’s bear population, which is estimated at around 4,003.
Lake County encompasses about 25 percent of the Ocala National Forest’s delineated territory (often, indiscernibly bordering the Tiger Bay State Forest, Wekiva River Protection Area and other protected lands).
To understand the extent of problems experienced by human encounters with bears, the FWC offers an interactive map that shows incidents involving bear complaints, encounters and illegal kills. It can be found at myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/bear/living/distribution-map.
The FWC tells us that if a bear feels threatened, they may clack their teeth together, moan, blow, huff, or stomp the ground. This is known as the bluff charge (they’ll run toward you and then stop before reaching you). 
“These are all ways the bear is showing you it is as uncomfortable with the situation and it wants you to give it some space,” the FWC says. “These are NOT indications of aggressive intent or an imminent attack. Truly predatory or aggressive black bears are rare and generally silent.”
To this date in Florida, there are zero reported deaths caused by black bears spanning the entirety of our state’s recorded history.
“The chances of being injured by a bear are approximately 1 in 2.1 million,” the National Park Service reported. “You are more likely to be killed by a bee than a bear.”
According to the FWC, dogs have been involved in over half of the incidents of people being injured by bears in Florida.
When walking dogs in areas populated by bears, keep them close to you — ideally on a non-retractable leash –— and be aware of your surroundings, which is good practice for preventing conflicts with any wildlife.
Before letting your dog out at night in your yard, flip lights on and off and bang on the door to give bears and other wildlife a chance to leave the area. 
According to the FWC presentation, a proposed harvest quota of 187 bears was selected to reach the number of females needed to achieve a zero percent bear population growth. 
The draft of the proposal that will be presented to commissioners is expected to be ready for public review by May 7. 
After FWC staff updated the commission on a bear management plan during a meeting last December, FWC Chair Rodney Barreto called for staff to develop a bear hunting option for commissioners to consider.
An average of one Floridian is harmed each year by bears, but 600 people are attacked in the state by dogs.
— Katrina Shadix of Bear Warrior United
In February, around 370 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) employees lost their jobs during the DOGE layoff spree, including some field officers.
While layoffs could potentially affect the FWC’s ability to manage bear populations and enforce regulations, the agency’s existing framework for managing bears, including permits and the management plan, could still allow for a controlled hunt, the agency claims.
When the FWC had more field personnel in 2015, it was unsuccessful in enforcing a quota for a “controlled bear hunt.” The total number of bears slain was exceeded in less than a week, and the limit was set almost twice as high (304) as this year’s proposed number.
The state’s wildlife biologists plan to present rules for a bear hunt to the commission at a meeting in May, and those rules will be voted on in August. Opponents, however, already are raising an alarm, with one saying they “don’t want trophy killing.”
Environmental attorney Chuck O’Neal said the virtual meeting appeared to be an exercise for the FWC to “fine tune” the rules for the proposals they will deliver to the commissioners. 
Others called for the FWC to deploy more wildlife officers into the field to regulate the hunt more closely and to take the money raised with the sale of hunting permits and plow it back into bear management. 
“We don’t want trophy killing. We want responsible bear management and that includes buying land for conservation so our wildlife can survive,” Katrina Shadix of Bear Warrior United said. 
Shadix opposes a hunt and tries to bring some perspective to the argument: An average of one Floridian is harmed each year by bears, but 600 people are attacked in the state by dogs, she said.
“We now have 23 million people, only (approximately) 4,000 Bears. We have a people problem, not a bear problem,” Shadix added.
Under a proposal outlined in three virtual public meetings last week, there will be a $5 application fee to enter a random drawing for a permit. If selected, a bear hunting permit would be $100 for a resident, $300 for non-residents. 
The FWC is still fielding comments from the public about the proposed bear hunt at myfwc.com/hunting/bear.
Among recent commenters on the FWC site, Ron “Alligator Ron” Bergeron, former commissioner of the FWC, asked us to look back at the 2015 hunt.
“Can we learn from the past?” he implored.
“To move forward with a proposed hunt, prior to a biological sustainable analysis with demographics for repopulation and a stock assessment in each individual region that shows there are more bears than the natural food can support. And not waiting for your bear management plan which is not available until 2029, which is premature and against everything this agency stands for.”
Bergeron adds: “I am a hunter and I believe hunting is a constitutional right with the proper science. You should respect the hunters, the nonhunters and animal lovers. The citizens of Florida own the wildlife and all stakeholders whether you are a hunter or nonhunter or citizen that loves animals. Wait for your science and respect all stakeholders. Proposing a hunt without the science that is supposed to be available in 2029 is irresponsible.”
Here are some anonymous comments accessed from the FWC on its website:
“Without current, rigorous data on bear numbers, distribution and growth rates a hunt risks overharvesting and possibly destabilizing the population. There is evidence that bear hunting does not resolve human-and-bear conflict (cites a study from 2023, Ontario, Canada, and the results of the Florida 2015 bear hunt).”
“Open up a short season using hounds and see how it’s managed and works out. Size limits on the bears harvested should be 100-pound minimum. Once the short season is done, study the harvest records and existing population and extend the season the following year. Could also extend or add another short season to the following year.”
“I have never in over 20 years of rehabilitating mistreated dogs seen dogs in worse condition than hound dogs used for bear hunting. They were branded by coat hangers, ears had been torn off. …They are kept in crowded, filthy conditions and the females bred far too much.”
“Let me first start by saying I am an avid outdoorsman along with my wife and the rest of my family. … As a deer hunter, I never thought that I would want to hunt bears, but after seeing the population explode over the recent years, I would greatly support a bear hunt here in Florida as I can see its benefit to not only managing our wildlife throughout the state but provide the economic potential for the state to continue managing our wildlife properly.”

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