Florida Senate - 2019                             (NP)    SR 988
       
       
        
       By Senator Stewart
       
       
       
       
       
       13-01274-19                                            2019988__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution requesting the Florida Fish and Wildlife
    3         Conservation Commission to consider relisting the
    4         Florida black bear as a threatened species under the
    5         Endangered and Threatened Species Act.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, the Florida Senate is concerned with the
    8  protection of wildlife, an asset held in the public trust for
    9  all citizens, and
   10         WHEREAS, the Florida black bear is an iconic species
   11  beloved by the vast majority of Floridians, and
   12         WHEREAS, after being hunted to near extinction, the Florida
   13  black bear was listed as a threatened species on the state’s
   14  Endangered and Threatened Species List in 1974, and
   15         WHEREAS, after public outcry over the cruel and inhumane
   16  limited hunting of Florida black bears in 1994, the State of
   17  Florida prohibited all hunting of the species, and
   18         WHEREAS, amidst a contested and controversial process, the
   19  Florida black bear was removed from state-designated threatened
   20  status in 2012, and
   21         WHEREAS, in 2015, the Florida Fish and Wildlife
   22  Conservation Commission passed rules for an annual bear hunt,
   23  which was abruptly ended two days into the week-long hunt due to
   24  an unusually high number of bear deaths, and
   25         WHEREAS, Florida black bears continue to suffer from a loss
   26  of habitat and increased death rates on Florida roadways, and
   27         WHEREAS, 1000 Friends of Florida estimates that one-third
   28  of this state will be developed by 2070, with a human population
   29  of 33.7 million, and
   30         WHEREAS, during the past 20 years, more than 8,000 new
   31  miles of roadways have been built in this state and more than
   32  230 million more daily vehicle miles are driven over such
   33  roadways, and
   34         WHEREAS, the penalties for poaching Florida black bears are
   35  currently so low that they have been recently subjected to
   36  torture and acts of animal cruelty, NOW, THEREFORE,
   37  
   38  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   39  
   40         That the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
   41  should examine the protection of the iconic Florida black bear
   42  and consider relisting the species as threatened, pursuant to
   43  the criteria of the Endangered and Threatened Species Act.