USSAF: Judge Rejects Effort To Ban Florida Bear Hunt

Florida's bear population is quite healthy and very well managed. So indicated a Florida court this week, which rejected spurious claims that hunting black bears there was somehow detrimental to the entire North American black bear population.

The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance Alliance Foundation was victorious in its representation of hunter' interests in a lawsuit brought by antis to make black bears in Florida off-limits to sportsmen forever. The case contended that the black bear in Florida is in deep trouble and is an endangered sub-species of the North American black bear, entitling Florida bears to protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)., It was brought by the Humane Society of the United States, Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club and other anti-hunters. United States District Judge Henry H. Kennedy, Jr. presided over the case.

"The Court found the Defenders of Wildlife case to be wholly baseless," said Rick Story, senior vice president of USSAF. "The judge wisely deferred to the scientific conclusion of the agency with statutory responsibility for the health and well-being of the bears. The bottom line is that the black bear is healthy and abundant, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation commission is doing a fine job of managing them and the court completely ignored the anti-hunters' nonsensical argument that the Florida bear is an endangered subspecies of the North American black bear."

IMHO, U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance and U.S. Sportsmen Alliance Foundation do a great job with conservation and protecting hunting and trapping rights.