More info on the Management plan brewing for Florida Bruins

Opinion varies on dealing with black bear increase

By DINAH VOYLES PULVER, ENVIRONMENT WRITER

  September 10, 2010 12:05 AM

Estimated Bear Populations in Florida Pre-European settlement
11,500

1960s-1970s
500 - 1,000

1998
1,282

Today
2,212 - 3,453

Estimated Bear Population By General Region
Apalachicola National Forest
438-695

Big Cypress National Preserve
516-878

Eglin Air Force Base
63-101

Ocala National Forest
729-1,056

Osceola National Forest
200-313

St. Johns region (Volusia and Flagler counties)
96-170

Developing "bear smart communities" that keep food and garbage locked up and possibly renewing bear hunts are two options the state is exploring as part of a new management plan for the state's growing black bear population.

A group of about 60 people attending a meeting with state wildlife officials to talk about black bears Wednesday night illustrated the wide gamut of public opinion on bears.
Deltona resident Brenda Lindsey, "a nature lover and avid hunter" who often sees bears in her neighborhood, was among a couple of dozen who lobbied the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to take the steps needed to begin hunting bears again.

Others made it clear they didn't approve of hunting or voiced different concerns.
Longwood resident Cynthia Lubinski, who had a bear crawl through a doggy door to get into her home near the Wekiva River, wants the state to develop stiffer penalties for people who feed bears and attract them to neighborhoods.

The diverse comments demonstrated the "dimensions of the difficulties the commission is struggling with," said the meeting's moderator, Perran Ross.
The commission is conducting a series of meetings around the state to introduce a draft version of its recently-completed bear management plan, written with the assistance of a technical advisory group that included biologists, environmentalists and hunters.
Commission biologists estimate the state's bear population at 2,500 to 3,000. Of those, 800 to 1,225 live in the Central Florida region that includes the Ocala National Forest and Volusia and Flagler counties.

Mike Thomas, Edgewater mayor and a retired wildlife commission officer, said he has seen a remarkable increase in bears in Volusia and Brevard counties since he began his law enforcement career here in 1972.

The key component of the management plan would create several working groups around the state to manage bears by region, addressing local issues. For example, a Central Florida group would likely tackle the high number of illegal feeding activities, the high number of human bear encounters and problems with garbage can raiding bears.
The plan also calls for creating a number of "bear smart" communities around the state, modeled after a program in British Columbia, where entire neighborhoods learn to stop attracting bears. And, it lays out steps for deciding how many bears might be sustainable in each region, based on the amount of available bear habitat.
At a meeting earlier Wednesday, the commission talked with public officials from throughout the region. Local officials attending included Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson and representatives from Volusia County Land Acquisition and Management, Blue Spring State Park, DeLeon Springs State Park and the city of Deltona.

The wildlife commission plans to consider all the comments in the final version of the management plan, which is expected to go before the commission's board for final approval sometime next year.
Wednesday night, Pierson resident Dave Hutchins suggested the state consider allowing hunters to train dogs at certain times of the year by allowing them to chase and tree bears. The dogs would be called off once the bear is treed and the bear would be allowed to escape.

Dave Telesco, coordinator of the state bear program, said such a program has been successful in Louisiana and teaches bears to be more fearful of people and neighborhoods. By contrast, state officials said they have no evidence that hunting makes bears more afraid of people.
Johnny Lee of Edgewater believes the state eventually will turn to hunters for help in controlling the bear population.

"You came back to us for the gators," said Lee. "You're going to come back to us for the bears."
Before any hunting could begin, the state would have to cross a number of hurdles, said Mike Orlando, assistant bear program coordinator, including removing the bear from the state's threatened species list.