Conservationists sue to stop Florida's first black bear hunt in a decade

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Conservationists have filed a lawsuit to halt Florida's first black bear hunt in a decade, arguing that the hunt scheduled for December is unconstitutional and contradicts the state's own policy protecting native species.

State officials approved the hunt in August despite strong opposition. Bear Warriors United filed the complaint against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in circuit court in Tallahassee on Wednesday.

“The FWC’s illegal action undermines its constitutional duty to manage the black bear population based on scientifically supported recommendations, not the whims of the Commission,” the complaint reads.

A spokesperson for the agency declined to comment on the pending litigation.

The conservation group previously filed a similar complaint in an administrative court, but voluntarily withdrew it after attorneys for the fish and wildlife agency argued that it isn't subject to an administrative ruling on the issue.

The commission voted unanimously in favor of the hunt last month, including plans to use dogs and target the bears in baited locations. State officials say they need to manage growing bear populations, which the wildlife agency says have recovered significantly.

State officials have also noted an increase in interactions between people and bears, with the animals digging through homeowners' trash cans and injuring or killing farmers' livestock.

“We make decisions based on science,” Commission Chair Rodney Barreto said at the time.

Opponents have called the hunt a cruel, unnecessary excuse for hunters to bag a trophy animal when the real issue is humans encroaching on bear habitats as the country's third most populous state continues to add people.

There are an estimated 4,000 black bears in Florida, one of the few states with sizable populations that do not have a bear hunting season.

This year's plan has more stringent rules than the 2015 hunt did, when hunting permits were provided to anyone who could pay for them. That led to a chaotic event that shut down days early after 300-plus bears were killed, including at least 38 females with cubs, meaning the young bears probably died too.

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Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.