A pair of bills in the Florida Legislature aim to stop black bear encounters in neighborhoods by protecting the bears' food.

  • Florida Black Bear Restoration Act
  • Protects black bear habits, food sources
  • Stops bear hunting until 2027

House Bill 491 and Senate Bill 1304 are multi-part measures aimed at reforming the state's approach to the Florida Black Bear.

"Slaughtering them is not the answer," said FL Rep. Amy Mercado, D-Orlando. "Keeping them in their home, in their habitat, with the food they are accustomed to, and allowing us to share our funding with the local communities that do bump up to that habitat, to be able to protect their garbage, is very important to us."

The Florida Black Bear Habitat Restoration Act proposes new rules aimed at harvesting the bears' main food -- saw palmetto berries.

The berries are prized by herbalists for prostate conditions. But smaller harvests mean the bears are also not getting enough berries to sustain them.

"When you see the bears coming into your neighborhood and swimming in your swimming pool, they are looking for a food source," said FL Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando. "If we can just keep them where they're supposed to have their habitat by not infringing on their habitat, then that's what we should be attempting to do."

 


A look at where black bears live throughout Florida. (FWC)

 

It bans permits for palmetto berry harvesting on public lands known to be black bear habitats. It also requires that any business taking large amounts of the berry from harvesters get a special certificate from the harvester affirming that they picked the berries legally.

The act goes further to protect saw palmetto and live oak trees by banning the timbering (cutting down) of trees by companies on public lands identified as bear habitats. Advocates say doing so further depletes black bear food.

The bills also require more agency cooperation between the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation commission and the Florida Forest Service in managing black bear habitats, including the Ocala National Forest. It calls for changing burn schedules to allow trees to regrow so bears don't go looking for food elsewhere. It also provides new rules for open burning and prescribed burns.

The acts also set aside $1 million from the non-gaming trust fund to fund bear-resistant trash cans for cities and counties that butt up to the bear habitats. The cans, which can run around $100 a piece, lock and stop bears from breaking in.

Finally, the act puts a moratorium on bear hunting until 2027. A 2015 hunt divided Floridians and led to outrage across the country. The hunt took a large amount of female black bears. 

Florida's Black Bear population is up to 4,000 animals, with the Central Florida region home to the largest population in the state.

This is the second time Stewart has tried to get this bill through the legislature. The bill failed in committee last year.

Florida Fish and Wildlife is not commenting on the bill.