Scheduled for a hearing today with Florida’s Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee is Bill 1304, a controversial bill that would see bear hunting in the Sunshine State go on a 10-year hiatus.
Veering away from the science-based model of wildlife management, the state of Florida has been under intense pressure to do away with bear hunting seasons statewide. This coming after the wildly successful hunt in 2015 which saw over 300 bears killed within just two days, prompting an early end to the first Florida bear hunting season in over 20 years.
In addition to banning the hunting of bears for 10 years, the bill would also require bear-proof garbage cans, which would end up costing the state’s taxpayers upwards of $1 million.
Despite the recommendation by Florida’s Fish and Wildlife to continue the bear hunt in 2016, animal rights activists shut the proposed season down, setting a dangerous precedent for socially-pressured hunting regulations rather than those based on scientific research.
Bill 1304 only continues to push this false narrative, instead, politicizing the wildlife management model that has been utilized successfully for so many years.
Florida hunters and anglers are urged to contact their state senator and express their distaste for this reckless legislation.
