Jim RosicaState Rep. Frank Artiles soon will be literally ‘loaded for bear’: His name is on the state’s list of permit holders for next month’s black bear hunting season.
A list provided by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) on Wednesday after a public-records request shows Artiles’ name among the 2,055 who have received a permit to hunt black bear, the state’s largest land mammal.
Artiles, a Miami Republican, wasn’t available Wednesday afternoon at his district office. An outgoing phone announcement said the voicemail was full and couldn’t accept messages.
The list shows a “Frank Artiles” in Miami-Dade County with a permit; a background check found only one Frank Artiles listed in public records as residing in that county.
Artiles, though, previously has advocated for a bear hunt. In 2014, he was one of several legislators to ask state officials to approve a limited hunt after a series of bear maulings in Central Florida.
Artiles, however, is the only lawmaker who signed that letter to follow through and receive a permit, according to a name search of the FWC list.
The cost for a permit is $100 for Florida residents and $300 for non-residents. The season starts at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Oct. 23, and will last 2-7 days, “depending on if the bear harvest goal is met,” the FWC’s website says. That goal is 320 statewide.
Hunting will be open in four of the state’s seven bear management units, or BMUs, including the South BMU, where Artiles lives.
“These BMUs will be open for hunting because they have bear populations that are large enough to sustain a limited harvest: More than 200 bears, according to most recent estimates,” the website says. “Bear hunting will be legal on private land and on some public lands in these BMUs.”
The wildlife commission approved the hunt in June, setting a limit of one bear bagged per hunter, who aren’t allowed to use “bait or dogs.” Officials predict an individual hunter’s success at bagging a bear at 1 percent to 12 percent.
“The purpose of reinstating a bear hunting season is to stabilize expanding bear populations in different parts of the state,” the website says. As part of an overall approach, “hunting is the most effective and responsible method for managing the growth of bear populations.”
Artiles was in the news this past legislative session for sponsoring a bill to restrict single-sex public restrooms to those only of the corresponding “biological sex, either male or female, at birth.” Advocates for transgender individuals called the bill discriminatory; it died in committee.
Artiles, a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant, also was accused during session of punching a 21-year-old college student in an alleged late-night dustup at a downtown Tallahassee bar. He denied the altercation occurred.
Editor’s note: This story was first reported on the Political Cortadito website, edited by Elaine de Valle.
