Critical questions unanswered, however FWC commissioners advance black bear hunt

May 22, 2025

By Amber Crooks, Senior Environmental Policy Advisor, Conservancy of Southwest Florida

On May 21, 2025, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) voted to forward new Florida black bear hunt rules with the anticipation of a hunt later this year. The Conservancy of Southwest Florida was one of 170 speakers who spoke about the proposed Florida black bear hunt. Present at the public meeting in Ocala, Florida, were those both in support of the hunt and those opposed, providing three hours of testimony to the appointed FWC Commissioners.

After the testimony concluded, in a 4-to-1 vote, they advanced not only the bear hunt, but also alternatives for bear hunting with dogs, taking bear over bait, and a program that would allow large landowners special opportunities for bear hunting.

FWC Commissioners and Executive Director

The Conservancy’s comments focused on major areas of concern for southwest Florida:

  • The need to focus agency efforts on human-bear conflict reduction, which is achieved through managing trash and other food attractants.
  • How a hunt in the South Unit (which includes Lee, Collier, and Hendry counties) could diminish the dispersal of Florida black bears into the severely imperiled South-Central bear unit (just northward in Glades and Highlands counties), which is at risk of local extinction.
  • FWC’s bear population estimate research will be complete in just a few years, and it would be reasonable to wait until these studies are completed to ensure validity of the growth models used to set quotas.
Conservancy staff, Amber Crooks, provides public testimony during the meeting

The Conservancy is uniquely positioned, as our region includes both the South Big Cypress unit as well as the imperiled South-Central Glades/Highlands unit. At last count, there were only 98 bears in the South-Central unit, fewer than prior estimates. For future generations of Floridians, FWC should ensure bears remain on the landscape there, yet the Hunt Zones that were advanced with the May 21st vote would allow hunting just a few miles away from the South-Central unit, across the Hendry County line to the south. The hunting could occur at the very places bears should disperse from, traveling north to the South-Central unit, where this subpopulation may become extirpated without additional bears.

Conservancy map showing that the gap between the South Bear Subpopulation and the South-Central Bear Subpopulation. Hunting could take place all the way up to the County line.

FWC should avoid hunting in this northern extent of the South Unit, as bears within the Okaloacoochee Slough (including Spirit-of-the-Wild Wildlife Management Area) are the best opportunity to provide recovery of the imperiled subpopulation.


Now, more than ever, FWC should focus squarely on addressing human-bear conflicts. FWC staff have correctly stated that “managing bear populations does not manage conflict; conflict prevention and management will need to continue regardless of hunting status .…”[1] FWC Commissioners should put the health and safety of people and of the bears (since the old adage is “a fed bear is a dead bear”) as the first priority. Despite a Collier County ordinance and state regulations that prohibit intentional or unintentional feeding of bears and mandate the securing of trash between pick-up days, we know that trash management continues to be an issue top-of-mind in southwest Florida. FWC’s own research has documented that negative bear interactions were reduced by 95% or more when bear-resistant trash cans were implemented.[2]


The FWC has stated that abundance estimates for all seven of Florida’s bear subpopulations will be completed around 2030. As this information is forthcoming, it is reasonable for the agency to wait until the science is complete. For subpopulations that do not have the new estimates completed, the data may be as old as from 2015. The FWC studies that are currently underway would help confirm whether or not the growth rates that the agency is relying on to set quotas are appropriate.

What will happen to the imperiled bear subpopulation in Glades/Highlands counties? Will the agency have the resources to reprioritize human-bear conflicts while also conducting a controversial hunt year after year? Will the FWC’s ongoing scientific research on bear population and demographics come quickly enough to ensure a hunt will be sustainable?

Unfortunately, there are many unanswered questions, despite the vote to approve the bear hunt rules. The FWC Commissioners are scheduled to return on this item for a potential final vote in August 2025. The Conservancy will continue to advocate on these issues and work with the agency to address our concerns.

Take action to stop development in wildlife habitat here.

Read our entire bear hunting comment letter here.


[1] Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 2025. Public Meeting on Bear Hunting Proposals. April 2025.

[2] Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 2015. Bear Wise: Waste Management Update. September 2, 2015.