A hot topic now front and center in a legal battle: Florida’s first black bear hunt in a decade.
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission chairman said it’s a decision based on science.
But a mother and daughter are speaking up, saying that’s not true. They are moving forward with a challenge in court, hoping to put a stop to the hunt scheduled to start in December.
“And they're not taking into account all of the bears that are getting killed by cars, by the massive overdevelopment that we have,” said Raquel Levy, an attorney representing Bear Warriors United at the Atlantic Law Center.
“The developers are profiting off of this hunt. Because they can market their subdivision without nuisance bears. So it's in their interest to keep the population down,” Levy said.
Levy and her daughter, Bella Schwartz, attended a meeting in Havana earlier this month, when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved the first bear hunting season in a decade.
Schwartz did the majority of the research for the lawsuit and spoke out at the meeting.
She told Tampa Bay 28 that she’s worried about what this hunt will mean for the future of Florida Wildlife.
“As someone who's grown up going out in nature my whole life, um, in Florida, I've really come to appreciate um over wildlife and nature here, and it just makes me horribly sad to see the mass amounts of destruction to nature,” said Schwartz. “By the time I'm an adult, I'm worried that there will be nothing left and nothing left for my generation after that.”
In their lawsuit, Bear Warriors United argues the decision to move forward with a hunt is invalid because it gives the FWC executive director unbridled authority to issue permits to kill bears annually without any guidance or scientific facts.
The suit also claims the rule threatens the existence of black bears.
“The proposed rule is invalid because it gives the FWC executive director, or designee, unbridled authority to issue permits to kill bears annually without any guidance or scientific facts,” the lawsuit states. FWC’s proposed rule giving one individual the discretion to permit annual bear hunts without a scientific basis for wildlife management threatens the existence of a unique species of Florida wildlife and our quality of life.”
However, supporters of the hunt said it’s necessary to manage Florida’s estimated 3,800 black bears. Plus, to reduce human-bear encounters, like a recent deadly attack in Collier County. They also refute fears that the hunt will put the black bear species at risk.
"Somebody is going to end up getting killed,” said Rodney Roberts, a hunter. “They’re just… getting closer to families and kids and everything."
“FWC does a really good job making sure that we have some good science-driven policy,” said Dylan Hubbard, president of the Florida Guides Association.
FWC said hunters will be restricted to one bear per permit. They will also be limited and distributed through a random drawing.
Without some ruling by an administrative judge, the rules will take effect in September.
There are some truly inspiring people who call the Tampa Bay area home. People who overcome odds that others could not even imagine. Tampa Bay 28 anchor Lauren St. Germain met a woman who is doing just that, as she competes at an international level after 2 life-saving lung transplants.
