Bear-hunting will be on the agenda when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meets April 19 and 20 in Tallahassee.
Last year the panel voted unanimously to cancel a second-straight bear hunting season to allow staff to come up with more information justifying it.
The issue has been divisive and it’s unclear from the agenda materials available so far what the staff’s recommendation will be.
The short memo attached to the agenda says nothing more than the staff has studied the matter and will be talking about it at the meeting.
That cryptic memo has led to the circulation of an email from the Humane Society, an anti-hunting group, warning about the potential for a decision to resume hunting.
FWC biologists had recommended a limited hunting season in 2015, which ended early when the quota was reached more quickly than expected., because years of protection has allowed Florida black bear populations to recover to the point that limited hunting would be sustainable.
Biologists outside the agency responded that the population increase didn’t automatically justify a resumption of hunting. They countered that the decision to allow bear hunting was based less on any management need and instead on political pressure from the hunting community, many of whose members were eager to bag their first bear in Florida.