Jim Rosica
A Seminole County woman says she was behind a small plane’s buzzing of the Capitol on Wednesday, trailing a “No Bear Hunt!” banner with the email address of Gov. Rick Scott‘s chief of staff.
Connie Hedden de Haan of Longwood had AirSign.com, an aerial advertising company, fly the banner around the Capitol as Scott, other elected officials and political candidates were addressing the annual Associated Press’ pre-legislative session conference.
An AirSign representative confirmed the company’s involvement and said the banner also flew over Orlando on Sept. 28 and over Gainesville on Sept. 29. The company did not disclose the cost of the fly-bys.
A Tallahassee judge earlier this month declined to issue a court order to halt the hunt. It still is scheduled for Oct. 24, and will last two to seven days, “depending on if the bear harvest goal (of 320) is met,” according to the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
In a statement sent to FloridaPolitics.com, de Haan said she wants the hunt stopped.
“The FWC is waiting on the results of a bear population study due in 2016, so why must we kill bears now?” she said.
“Road deaths are cited as a reason, but it is hard not to believe the increase in bear-people-pet conflicts is what motivated this hunt,” de Haan added. “Neighborhood bears will likely be unaffected by the hunt, just the bears living deep in the woods – harming no one.”
Last year, legislators asked state officials to approve a limited hunt after a series of bear maulings in Central Florida. The wildlife commission approved the hunt in June, setting a per-hunter limit of one bear weighing at least 100 pounds.
“The FWC cannot police all the hunting areas, so how will the hunt be stopped when the quota is met, and how will off-limits hunting methods be controlled?” de Haan said. “Sadly, all kills will not be quick and merciful.”
More than 2,300 people at last count – including rocker Ted Nugent and state Rep. Frank Artiles – have received a permit to hunt black bear, the state’s largest land mammal.
But FWC’s best estimate – which hasn’t been updated since 2002 – is that there are only 2,500 to 3,000 of the bears statewide.
