Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

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 […]

Bruce RitchieMarch 15, 2015

Rep. Steve Crisafulli suggests the state needs to take better care of its land before buying any more with Amendment 1 money. Amendment 1, approved by 75 percent of voters statewide in November, is expected to provide $757 million for water and land conservation programs in the coming year. Crisafulli, a Republican from Merritt Island, […]

Bruce RitchieMarch 15, 2015

Rep. Steve Crisafulli suggests the state needs to take better care of its land before buying any more with Amendment 1 money. Amendment 1, approved by 75 percent of voters statewide in November, is expected to provide $757 million for water and land conservation programs in the coming year. Crisafulli, a Republican from Merritt Island, […]

Sally SwartzMarch 11, 2015

Florida’s newest Critical Wildlife Area, a tiny bird island in the Indian River Lagoon near Sewall’s Point, has survived erosion, hurricanes and the curiosity of boaters and fishermen. Now it faces a challenge – again – from an early dumping of Lake Okeechobee’s murky water. The 1.5 acre spoil island, created from sand dredged from […]

Bruce RitchieJanuary 20, 2015

Florida’s wildlife agency will request a rule change to allow black bear hunting in some areas because of bear attacks and other conflicts with people, state wildlife officials said Tuesday. Florida has at least 3,000 bears, up from around 500 in the 1950s. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in 1994 voted to make bear-hunting illegal […]

Phil AmmannDecember 10, 2014

Gov. Rick Scott is turning to a veteran of state government to try to turn around Florida’s troubled prison system that has been under scrutiny for inmate deaths, abuse and allegations of cover-ups. Scott on Wednesday announced he was appointing Julie Jones, who once led the agency that oversees the state highway patrol, to take […]

Shannon NickinsonNovember 9, 2014

The third installment of BP money sent to the Pensacola area under the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process includes $18,793,500 for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to build a hatchery and research facility at Bruce Beach. “This is the final sign-off,” said Gil McRae, the director of the Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research […]

Shannon NickinsonMarch 20, 2014

Bruce Beach deserves to be more than the dumping ground for fill dirt, riprap and spoil for every other construction project along Pensacola’s downtown waterfront. It deserves to be more than the tangle of brush and overgrowth that shelters a makeshift home place for vagrants. Bruce Beach in its current state is not the kind […]

Tag: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

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

Bruce Ritchie: Manage state land better AND buy more. It’s not either/or

Bruce Ritchie: Manage state land better AND buy more. It's not either/or

Sally Swartz: Dumping dirty water threatens Bird Island

State wildlife officials to request an end to ban on bear hunting

Gov. Scott names new chief for prisons

Shannon Nickinson: Oil-spill money to pay for bird hatchery, research center

Shannon Nickinson: Pensacola’s Bruce Beach deserves its time in the sun