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Guest AuthorOctober 13, 2015

At the annual black bear festival near Central Florida’s Ocala National Forest, there’s a children’s activity called “Come be a bear.” Kids put on little black bear costumes and learn what Florida bears do in their forest homes. No one, though, would want to “Come be a bear” in Florida this fall, thanks to the […]

Guest AuthorOctober 12, 2015

At the annual black bear festival near Central Florida’s Ocala National Forest, there’s a children’s activity called “Come be a bear.” Kids put on little black bear costumes and learn what Florida bears do in their forest homes. No one, though, would want to “Come be a bear” in Florida this fall, thanks to the […]

Jim RosicaOctober 1, 2015

A Tallahassee judge on Thursday denied a request from an environmental group to stop a planned bear hunt in Florida later this month. After a 4 1/2-hour hearing, Circuit Judge George Reynolds rejected Speak Up Wekiva’s request for a temporary injunction against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), which approved the week-long hunting season. […]

Jim RosicaSeptember 9, 2015

State 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 […]

Phil AmmannJuly 2, 2015

BP has agreed to pay a record $18.732 billion to resolve claims by five Gulf states of violating the Clean Water Act, harming natural resources, and other economic damages from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. As a part of the agreement announced Thursday, Florida will receive at least $3.25 billion. The overall deal has […]

Guest AuthorJune 22, 2015

This year in Tallahassee, there has been no shortage of opinions on how to divide the dollars the Florida Legislature is constitutionally required to spend on natural resources through Amendment 1. Throughout the debate, some have tried to hold our lawmakers to an arbitrary standard, arguing for tens of millions of dollars to be spent […]

Guest AuthorMay 20, 2015

On June 24 the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will vote on a proposal to open a trophy hunt on Florida’s unique subspecies of black bears. They were removed from the list of threatened species just three years ago. The trouble is, the commission does not have enough information to make that decision, and […]

Associated PressApril 20, 2015

As Florida prepares to unleash the public in another hunt for Burmese pythons in the Everglades, an analysis of data from the first Python Challenge shows that the 2013 spectacle didn’t do anything to curb the invasive snake’s population in the wetlands, a scientist said Monday. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission calls the […]

Bruce RitchieApril 15, 2015

Florida’s wildlife commission voted Wednesday to move forward with a rule to allow bear hunting in response to bear attacks and other encounters in urban areas. Florida had nearly 3,000 black bears in 2002, and they were removed from the state threatened species list in 2012. Bear hunting was banned by the state in 1994 […]

Bruce RitchieApril 15, 2015

Florida is the only state with more than 600 black bears that doesn’t allow bear hunting, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staff said in opening remarks during a commission meeting Wednesday in Tallahassee. And 32 of the nation’s 41 states with black bears allow hunting, said Diane Eggeman, director of FWC’s Division of Hunting […]

Tag: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
TCEC line workers restoring power after Helene. Image via Facebook (TCEC).

Kate MacFall: State’s bear hunt plans defy facts, logic

Kate MacFall: State’s bear hunt plans defy facts, logic

Judge declines to stop Florida black bear hunt

Frank Artiles’ name on list of bear hunting permits

DEP, FWC respond to record BP settlement, applauds Gulf Coast recovery progress

Brewster Bevis: Legislature shows leadership by ensuring Amendment 1 dollars benefit everyone

Jennifer Place and Kate MacFall: Allowing black bear hunting is “bad public policy”

Scientist: Florida python hunt didn’t help control threat

FWC OKs bear-hunting proposal, final vote in June

Dramatic increase in conflicts led to bear hunting proposal, FWC chairman says