Arguments against black bear hunt begin

The environmental group Speak Up Wekiva has filed a lawsuit against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission seeking to stop what would be the state’s first bear hunt in more than two decades.

An emergency hearing to try and stop the statewide bear hunt that starts later this month will be held Thursday.

No word yet from Speak Up Wekiva on what its next move will be.

The hunt is scheduled to begin October 24.

“I would not exclude any option at this point”.

“This hunt is unconstitutional”.

Judge George Reynolds’ decision came after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission appeared to shift its stance on a rule environmentalists had complained about.

“The commission is making every effort that it can to address all of the concerns of those who would like to hunt on a recreational basis and those who believe that the population must be managed”.

The state agency’s goal is to reduce the bear population in Florida by 320.

But Wiley said he won’t be calling a halt to the hunt. Either could issue an executive order stopping it before it starts. “And whether it takes the Supreme Court to make that decision, we’ll leave it to the Supreme Court”. In the past year or so, four women in Central and North Florida were attacked by bears.

The bear quota is 40 in an eastern Panhandle region, which includes the northwestern Big Bend area to west of Apalachicola Bay.

Eason and Diane Eggeman, director of the commission’s Division of Hunting and Game Management, testified that the quotas numbers are “conservative”. Based on her calculations of the hunting success rate, “only 207 bears would be taken”. As part of the suit, the plaintiffs asked that the hunt be stopped, at least until more data can be obtained. Permits can be purchased up until the day before the hunt.