BRISTOL, Fla. - The state's black bear management plan was the topic of discussion Tuesday night at a public workshop here.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says Florida black bear numbers have increased and the bear should no longer be on the state's list of threatened species.

Laurie Macdonald, director of Defenders of Wildlife's Florida program, says her group is celebrating the bear's progress, but she notes that several isolated sub-populations are struggling and facing issues such as inbreeding. She thinks the plan should do more to protect them.

"Be sure they bolster the habitat protection provisions; that they bolster the prevention of human-bear conflict provisions."

Unless the state creates habitat links between the small black bear sub-populations, she says, they face extinction threats, shrinking the overall gene pool and undoing their progress. She adds that any plan will take cooperation from the public and other state agencies which oversee public lands and enforce laws.

Ensuring that bear populations are not affected by development, Macdonald says, means identifying lands that could be used as habitat to link the bears rather than separating them.

"We want to be sure that populations are not isolated and that they remain very healthy in their connection with the other said populations of bears."

Macdonald believes another key to bear survival in Florida is preventing human-bear conflict by education and enforcing laws that deter people from feeding bears.

"But if they continue to do it - they know what's right and they're not doing it, they're doing what's wrong - and they're causing a bear to be a bad bear, then law enforcement needs to step in and prosecute."

Defenders of Wildlife says intentional and unintentional feeding and not enforcing the law can result in bears damaging property, which often results in the death of the bear.

Information on the draft bear management plan and the three remaining workshops are online at myfwc.com. The next workshop is Nov. 29 in Naples.



get more stories like this via email

It might not make hearts skip a beat like the sight of a Monarch butterfly or gray wolf, but biologists say a rare flowering New Mexico plant nonetheless deserves endangered species protection.

Inclusion of the swale paintbrush is under consideration by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Michael Robinson, senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the plant historically grew at several Southwestern sites but climate change and excessive grazing have taken their toll.

"We're talking about an extraordinarily arid area in the Bootheel of New Mexico -- it's Chihuahuan Desert -- it's got its own stark beauty," Robinson observed. "But when you see a relatively tall, graceful plant it provides a whole new perspective on the landscape."

He noted the swale paintbrush is one of the rarest plant species in North America. After accepting public comments over the summer about adding the plant to the endangered list, it is now under consideration for inclusion. Should it move forward, the Fish and Wildlife Service will have to develop a recovery plan.

Robinson pointed out the swale paintbrush, also known as the glowing Indian paintbrush, has bright yellowish flowers which produce nectar and support pollinators. Its rarity means not much is known about habitat requirements, but it's generally found in seasonally wet grasslands.

"The Fish and Wildlife Service has had its eye for decades on the need to protect the swale paintbrush, but just always found some reason not to do it," Robinson stressed. "Which is the sad reality for so many imperiled plants and animals that need protection sooner rather than later."

A 2022 study found protections offered by the Endangered Species Act often kick in too late to fully recover declining species. Published in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers found over the past three decades, species remained on waiting lists for protection far longer than the Endangered Species Act intends.


get more stories like this via email

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is moving forward with the Sublette Pronghorn migration corridor designation process.

Josh Metten, Wyoming field manager with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, said the move is an important step to protect key spots along the iconic route between Rock Springs and Grand Teton National Park.

That includes places where animals get corralled and funneled into bottlenecks, and places herds recover from winter by hunkering down to feed on green-up vegetation.

"It's really important for the whole herd, but especially females that are getting ready to have their fawns," said Metten. "So making sure that there is appropriate management of development in these high priority areas, like stopovers and bottlenecks."

A recent threat evaluation released by Game and Fish found that the corridor is at "high risk" of being lost due to human activity.

In just the past three years, high priority areas saw developments - including a 3,500 well gas field, a state gas auction leasing 640 acres for $19 an acre within a known bottleneck, and more subdivisions - according to Wyofile.

Metten said he believes protecting the corridor is not an either-or proposition.

Thanks to advanced GPS collar data tracking herd movements, he said all stakeholders can sit down at the same table and find ways to accommodate multiple uses of adjacent lands - including energy production, housing development, and increased access to outdoor recreation.

"These are all things that we can still have on the landscape, if we do it right," said Metten. "Using a science-based approach to identify what are the most important areas to conserve, and we set appropriate limits in areas that are needed."

Public meetings are set for this Thursday in Pinedale, November 29 in Green River, and November 30 in Jackson. The agency will accept public comments through January 5.

Metten said enjoying wildlife like the Sublette Pronghorn herd is a big reason why hard-working families are proud to call Wyoming home.

"We're thankful to Gov. Gordon and the staff and Wyoming Game and Fish Department," said Metten, "for their commitment to ensuring that this irreplaceable wildlife resource is sustained into the future."

Wyoming's elusive population of wolverines, whose contributions include keeping in check squirrel and other small mammal populations living at high elevations in deep snowpack, are at risk due to loss of habitat and climate change.

The latest U.S. Fish and Wildlife species assessment suggested federal protections under the Endangered Species Act could come as soon as November.

Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation program legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, would welcome the move.

"We're relieved that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finally recognized the threats to wolverines," Zaccardi said. "We're hopeful that will lead to a decision to federally protect them in the future."

Wolverines in the lower 48 were driven to the brink of extinction due to fur trapping and poisoning, but reemerged after states added protections. Wyoming prohibits hunting or trapping wolverines but has opposed federal protections. Former Gov. Matt Mead told the Department of Fish and Wildlife members of the Wolverine Science Panel were uncertain about climate change's impacts on wildlife.

Zaccardi noted whatever skepticism may have existed over the impact of climate change on wolverines is not represented in Fish and Wildlife's new report.

"The new assessment shows that there is consensus among scientists about the threats that wolverines are facing," Zaccardi pointed out. "And that climate change is a real threat to these species."

Conservationists said protecting wolverines -- alongside grizzlies, lynx, wolves and other species at risk -- safeguards Wyoming's wild spaces, which are central to the state's identity and draw visitors from across the globe. Zaccardi believes Endangered Species Act protections are a critical tool for keeping ecosystems humans also depend on healthy and intact.

"The loss of wolverines could have a profound impact on the general health of ecosystems across the Mountain West that they inhabit," Zaccardi concluded.


get more stories like this via email