Thanks to all the monitors, documenters, Chuck O Neal and everyone that has spoken out to what we know in our hearts is a mess. A big bloody mess.
I was very proud to read through the list of permits and find only one person in Martin County bought a permit.
This was CBS national news who got most of the story wrong calling every against animal activists. Thank goodness they put in that bit about Ron Bergeron. CBS we are citizens of Florida and we have an opinion and we have a right not to be pigeon holed. I don’t see any where to leave comments. The Hunt is all over Florida.
My issue as I have stated before is not hunting bears. There are bear hunts and other places seem to know how to do this. Florida does not and the agenda is driven by the Governor who is driven by his masters. We have seen this behavoir last winter at SFWMD and even lately when they tried to do the right thing and keep taxes the same.
I really hope the FWC who opened up this hunt on bears all over the state that were not bothering anyone saying they were saving our lives from nuisance bears that eat people garbage are satisfied with what happened yesterday. We have no idea what will happen but we do know what happened yesterday.
From a friend on Facebook: So a friend of mine with the county (Marion) Sheriffs called me today and asked me if I was going out to protest the hunt and I said I was planning on hiking this weekend. He wanted to let me know that the local sheriffs deputies were all given an FBI bulletin due to the “High Threat of violence.” Apparently hunters have threatened to open fire on anyone they see trying to disrupt their hunt.
nice hunters.
…hunters killed 81 — double the limit. In Central FL, hunters killed 99 of the 100 allowed, so it will shut down too #FLBearHunt
Many reports of lactating mothers. One cub under 100 lbs.
My heartfelt grateful thanks to the volunteers from speak up wekevia who monitored the hunt and documented with video and photos.
To everyone who was just awoken to the travesty’s that go on in Florida. You may be outraged but I can guarantee that NO ONE is Tallahassee cares. Rick Scott has an agenda. He is doing what he set out to do. He cannot be impeached and he has no remorse about this hunt.
You can crab all you want but if any of these commissioners give you anything you want they will be replaced.
What can we do?
We can make sure the news is reporting correctly. I saw a report yesterday from CBS News. CBS this guy misreported the whole thing. I would ask for my money back. We can let our legislators know how we feel and we can let the people running know (the ones that don’t want to piss off the hunters) that unless we all talk and come up with a plan there will no land to hunt on.
I went through all the permits and only found one person from Martin County who bought one. I was hoping for none. This speaks volumes because I really did think there would be a bunch of people going.
Unfortunately, while we’re busy fighting with each other you gotta know there’s bad stuff going on. Yesterday was a bad for Florida and a bad bad day for the bears and unless we talk to each other it will never get fixed.
Hunters there will be no hunting because there will be no land to hunt on so I suggest you start thinking about this.
News people: We are not animal activists. We are citizens of our state.
HSUS don’t use this as an opportunity to make money to pay your staff. All money should be going towards the lawsuit.
Here is the main facebook page. Please do not give any money to HSUS. It doesn’t help us.
“Almost three weeks post flood, and almost two weeks post the second coming of rain which reflooded areas of SC already devastated. We are officially in recovery. Roads and bridges are being repaired/restored, but getting around in Columbia still presents a challenge… Don’t believe the HSUS propaganda about their help in moving flood displaced pets. The counties they’re patting their backs about were not FEMA designated disaster counties, and the pets they are selling to shelters further north are not flood victims. All of our emergency shelters accepted pets. Displaced pets are being reunited daily with their families thanks to the efforts of rescue groups like Chasing Tails Pet Patrol…”
Here is a good article about what they are doing in South Carolina.
“You may know HSUS from its work in exploiting thousands of donors in order to use their money for legislative, salary, and fundraising purposes instead of directly helping animals in shelters. That exploitation extends to disaster relief.
HSUS likes to market itself as the frontline for animal relief in times of need, and as you’ll notice on its website, there are plenty of emotional appeals for you to help them in that effort by donating anywhere from 35 to 1,000 dollars, or more if you’re so inclined.
We certainly don’t want to get in the way of any group that wants to help displaced animals, if their intentions are truly compassionate and not self-serving. That doesn’t seem to be case with HSUS, however.
Their spotty track record when it comes to disaster relief situations is appalling. Look no further than New Orleans, where HSUS’s “relief” in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction was little more than fundraising abuse. It’s reported that the animal rights organization raised upwards of 34.6 million dollars to help animals there.
That’s a spectacular amount of money which could be used to assist a region in dire need. Unfortunately, only 25-52% (depending on if your source is HSUS’s tax records or HSUS’s own reporting) of those funds were dispersed to Louisiana groups.”
How much money will be wasted on fake videos? These people claim to be fiscally conservatives they have no problem spending millions of dollars on witch hunts? Riddle me that! I could sit here and write a blog on how many people got killed under Regan but it would make difference to the Hillary Haters. They are so stuck in their hate circuits there is no getting out.
Another Blog I wrote about the Anthrax attack in Boca Raton.
I have for years walked around with the knowledge that someone called and asked us to research Anthrax 2 weeks before the attack and I never knew why. The answer came from a friend of mine and it chilled me to my core.
So because the world is amazing a friend of mine shared this story with me. I have walked around with a lot things from when this happened and one the questions was why did we get the call to do research on this. It came from someone at AMI and I never wanted to get that person in trouble. I had some theories but I never ever ever expected this.
From my friend Victoria:
Victoria Romero HugginsIt was a very scary time for me as a mother. Our daughter, Summer, sat at the desk next to Bob’s. Summer was Bob’s photo-journalist assistant. Yes, there were at least 3 others who had spores within their noses. I got the phone call from Summer when Bob died. They knew what it was, they just kept it under wraps and out of the public. Her phone call to me was: “Mom, I’m to young to die! I had Sammy in here on Saturday to do some work. Bob got the Anthrax on Friday!” Yes, there were people in the building on MONDAY swabbing everything. When they found spores on the keyboards and hand railings within the building – they sent everyone home. They were not allowed to take anything but themselves out of the building. That very day, they began swabbing the noses of the employees – some were put on cipro immediately. Summer was one of those. I sat with her every day for the FBI updates. I went through the most trying time – she had an allergic reaction to Cipro. A very bad reaction. Then, the FBI decided that since Bob and Summer lived within the same neighborhood, an approach to the Lantana Municipal Airport, they began swabbing their homes and yards. Nothing was found at their homes. We were told at least a month before the press got hold of it, that the spores were throughout the building, compliments of the A/C. It seems so strange that the AMI people were working and having daily briefings at the Sun Sentinel building in Delray, yet they were continually told “Share nothing with the press!” Everyday after briefings, the parking lot was full of TV crews…… I will say this, AMI paid their employees in cash each week, even though most of them were not working…. It was a very sad time for our family. (Now that AMI has moved out of Boca, Summer is without a job since September. She worked for AMI since she was 17 – and she is 39 now.)
Let it be known that David Pecker, the owner of AMI at that time, went above and beyond for his employees. Everything, I mean everything was left behind by the employees. Coffee mugs, purses, their identification, personal pictures and things on their desks. When Guiliani had the building decontaminated, they asked if any of the AMI employees wanted anything of a personal nature back. All stated NO. There were thousands of dollars of photos in the photo-journalists storage which could not be used.”
So there you have it. We had anthrax in Boca way before we even knew it was there and it totally under wraps. So I have to worry about what else was under raps.
We’ll never know who was responsible and I think if Bob had not died we would have know about this at all.
A very disturbing week on my blog, in my world. People who are suppose to be doing the right thing are not.
Steve Crisafulli says it’s amazing “anything” gets passed in GOP-led Legislature
“The intense divide between the Florida House and Senate this year was so intense that House Speaker Steve Crisafulli led his members out of the chambers three days prematurely this past April, leading for the first of a series of special sessions in 2015.
His other top issue is tackling water policy, where he invoked the drought in California as a reason why the Legislature must act this year. When the House broke early from session in April, they failed to pass a water bill, though the Senate companion was approved on a 39-1 vote.”
Amazing how hindsight is BS and this guy has no problem spending money on special sessions while people have no food.
I think for everyone special session we have a portion of the money spent should be donated to our local food banks. An idea so horrid if it really did happen the GOP would make sure they agreed rather than make sure there was food.
Humane Society Florida director Kate McFall called the name exemptions “fishy,” but said it makes sense considering the widespread opposition.
“One hundred and three is a lot. It sounds strange,” McFall said. “(The hunt) is being painted as a small group of trophy hunters, so it makes sense for them to not want their names out there. It has hit a nerve with a lot of people.”
“And even though it may seem counter-intuitive, anti-intellectualism has little to do with intelligence. We know little about the raw intellectual abilities of Dylann Roof, but we do know that he is an ignorant racist who willfully allowed irrational hatred of an entire demographic to dictate his actions. Whatever his IQ, to some extent he is a product of a culture driven by fear and emotion, not rational thinking, and his actions reflect the paranoid mentality of one who fails to grasp basic notions of what it means to be human.
What Americans rarely acknowledge is that many of their social problems are rooted in the rejection of critical thinking or, conversely, the glorification of the emotional and irrational. What else could explain the hyper-patriotism ) that has many accepting an outlandish notion that America is far superior to the rest of the world? Love of one’s country is fine, but many Americans seem to honestly believe that their country both invented and perfected the idea of freedom, that the quality of life here far surpasses everywhere else in the world.”
So if your frustrated just understand YOU have better critical thinking skills.
One can hardly imagine a better case of inconsistent thinking and misapplied brain power in the public arena today. Carson, a successful brain surgeon and Yale graduate, is obviously intelligent and well educated. Yet he continually says things that any clear-thinking high school kid would cringe at.
He mocks the Big Bang Theory as absurd. (Like all theories, the Big Bang Theory is a work in progress, of course, but it is based on solid scientific evidence.)
A state of Florida website laconically refers to the project known as “Mod Waters” this way: “The Modified Water Deliveries Project project is a federal ecological restoration project in south Florida designed to improve water delivery to Everglades National Park. The completion of Mod Waters is required before the implementation of portions of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. Mod Waters is being implemented by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.”
http://www.ammoland.com/
“Tucson, AZ -(AmmoLand.com)- Safari Club International was pleased to be the only hunting group to assist the State of Florida in protecting the state’s black bear season against a challenge from anti-hunters.
On Thursday, October 1, 2015, after a five hour hearing, a Florida state court denied a request filed by Florida group, Speak Up Wekiva, to shut down Florida’s first black bear hunt in decades. As a result of the ruling, the hunt is set to commence as planned on October 24th.
Deserving most of the credit for the victory are Florida’s state attorneys and biologists, who aggressively defended the hunt in court. SCI assisted in defending the hunt by submitting a powerful amicus brief that explained to the court how stopping the hunt would harm SCI members and the general Florida hunting community.”
Let me repeat this: SCI assisted in defending the hunt by submitting a powerful amicus brief that explained to the court how stopping the hunt would harm SCI members and the general Florida hunting community.
SCI’s brief also provided concrete data from SCI’s past involvement with black bear litigation in New Jersey. The data refuted the Plaintiffs’ claims that the hunt would harm Florida’s black bear population. An SCI attorney appeared at the hearing to offer assistance as needed. SCI’s local counsel in Florida, attorney Ethan Way – a member of SCI’s Tallahassee Chapter – assisted SCI’s in-house litigation attorneys in filing our brief and appearing in court.
SCI is proud to be a part of this latest victory. SCI has a long history of conserving Florida black bears through sustainable use. Almost ten years ago, SCI helped the federal government defend a lawsuit seeking to force a listing of the Florida black bear under the Endangered Species Act, which would have prevented Florida’s current hunt.
If anti-hunting groups decide to continue to try to stop the hunt, SCI will continue to help Florida defend against any challenge.
About Safari Club International:
Safari Club International – First For Hunters is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. SCI’s approximately 200 Chapters represent all 50 of the United States as well as 106 other countries. SCI’s proactive leadership in a host of cooperative wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian programs, with the SCI Foundation and other conservation groups, research institutions and government agencies, empowers sportsmen to be contributing community members and participants in sound wildlife management and conservation.”
This hunt is not about dealing with the issues. This is the kinda crap we have to deal with the water. Big business coming in and taking away our Florida.
Where we’re at at this point and some history. I’m pretty sure this is from Chuck O’Neal
This might be a good time to review where we are in the legal process. In June of 2015, the FWC Commissioners passed a rule authorizing a bear hunt to begin Oct 24th. Legally, their rule could not be challenged until it be effective on July 29th. Two days later we filed our complaint (lawsuit) challenging the constitutionality of the FWC’s bear hunt rule on the basis that it was in contravention to the intent of the voters and intent of the framers of the 1998 constitutional amendment that created the FWC.
The Florida Supreme Court has consistently ruled from 1960 (Gray vs Bryant) forward that: “The fundamental object to be sought in construing a constitutional provision is to ascertain the intent of the framers and the provision must be construed or interpreted in such manner as to fulfill the intent of the people, never to defeat it. Such a provision must never be construed in such manner as to make it possible for the will of the people to be frustrated or denied.”
The FWC filed their answer to our complaint on September 30. Now that they have filed their answer we move into the discovery phase where we can depose potential witnesses under oath. Just like any other investigation, we must start at the bottom and work our way up the ladder. We have a statement under oath that the commissioners made the decision for the hunt to proceed this year.This statement was a completely new revelation because prior to this, the commissioners indicated they were acting upon the advice of Dr Eason. Now Dr Eason has said it was the commissioners who directed the hunt to proceed this year, not him.
Since the FWC took its time on answering the complaint and it was clear that the trial would not be held before the Oct 24 start of the proposed hunt, we filed an emergency motion for a temporary injunction to place a stay on the hunt until the case could be resolved. That motion for a temporary injunction was heard on October 1st. You can watch the replay on the Florida Channel link below.
There is a very high legal bar that must be cleared in order for the injunction to be granted. We felt we had a good chance to clear that bar because we argued that the unlimited two day beginning to the hunt did not protect their quota rule of 320.
During the hearing on Oct 1, long after their response to our motion, the FWC lawyers came up with an obscure rule about the power of their executive director during an emergency (like a natural catastrophe) that they did not even know about at the September FWC meeting. That was when Com Spottswood proposed the executive director be given the power to call the hunt after the first day. Com Priddy shot down that idea and won the vote 3-2.
Judge Reynolds had many concerns about the way the hunt was designed but ruled against our motion for a temporary injunction. In essence, he gave them a D but they still passed the course.
However, that ruling was just on our motion for a temporary injunction. That is an entirely different thing that the actual case which we filed on 7/31. The lawsuit proceeds and the investigation now begins with the ability to depose witnesses under oath.
We are committed to pursue justice for the bears by uncovering the truth behind this hunt. Was it a political decision or one based on sound science? The voters in 1998 created a commission that is independent of politics, one that makes decisions based on sound science. Are there other non-lethal ways to achieve the same goals as a hunt? Are these non-lethal means more representative of the intent of the voters? We intend to prove the answer to all three questions is yes.
Its important to remember that the bear hunt rule is for an annual hunt, meaning if we give up now, we will be fighting this fight every year until we win this lawsuit. So it is not just about the proposed hunt for Oct 24, its about keeping a species from being driven into extinction.
This motion was very expensive to pursue. It will cost even more to hold depositions of witnesses to get to the bottom of how this hunt came to be. We have been blessed to have the financial support of people and organizations from around the world. Please continue to do so, knowing that Oct 1 was just the first battle, not the war.
We are convinced that the Florida Supreme Court will in the end find that this hunt is contrary to the intent of the voters and contrary to the intent of the framers, but we have a long road ahead of us. Let’s stick together and arrive on that day as the name of this page implies, Floridians united to save our bears.
Speaking of Guns, SNL did this hysterical skit on guns and it was just perfect. Because what else can you do? There is no talking, no discussion. What can you do but make something so absurd we all can laugh at the absurdity of it all. Who better to star in it than Amy Schumer.
A judge agreed Friday morning to hear arguments Oct. 1 that could stop Florida’s bear hunt.
Speak Up Wekiva Inc. and Chuck O’Neal of Longwood, opponents of the state’s first bear hunt in more than two decades, want Circuit Judge George S. Reynolds III to impose a temporary injunction to prevent the hunt from taking place Oct. 24.
The lawsuit alleges the state Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission has crafted rules that could unwittingly lead to the killing of more than 320 bears, the kill quota established by the wildlife agency.
More than 2,100 hunters have gotten a permit.
“The FWC is not above the law or common sense,” O’Neal said.
Next month’s black bear hunt is a quintessential Florida event, blending our state’s love of guns with its disdain for reason and science.
Shoot first, get the data later.
“You should have all your science in place before you hold your first hunt in 21 years, especially when you’re dealing with an icon animal,” a hunt opponent told me Friday.
That quote didn’t come from some Sierra Club tree-hugger or PETA paint-thrower, but a Broward businessman, hunter and outdoorsman who answers his phone by saying, “Alligator Ron.” That would be Ron Bergeron, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation commissioner who voted against the hunt.
Alligator Ron was on the losing end of a 3-2 vote earlier this month. That’s bad news for bears.
Not long ago, Florida’s black bears were considered a threatened species, numbering only a few hundred. They have rebounded to an estimated population of 3,100.
Starting Oct. 24, roughly 10 percent could get wiped out in a week.
It’s refreshing to read about a hunter who actually believes this bear hunt is wrong. I guess I will have to take back my “the only good hunter is a dead hunter” viewpoint. The problem is not too many bears; it’s too many humans moving to Florida. Too many lazy humans who…
The commission decided to allow an unlimited number of hunters off up to 320 bears, a curious decision because Bergeron said they haven’t even gotten updated bear information in all the hunting zones.
“The state is divided into seven bear regions, with four allowing hunting [next month],” Bergeron said. “Two of those four regions’ stock assessments have not been finalized. We’re making assumptions based on the 2002 assessments…We don’t have all the data.”
Bergeron still hunts one deer, one turkey and one hog a year, but he won’t be taking aim at any bears next month.
“Until all of the science and stock assessments are in and show that we have a sustainable bear population and we have a population greater than the balance of the food chain, this seems premature,” Bergeron told me.
State Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, has no qualms. He’s among the 2,100 (and counting) who’ve paid for bear-hunt permits.
“This is to sustain a population, not to eviscerate it,” Artiles said Friday.
Artiles said thinning some older aggressive male bears will allow younger bears to stay in their natural habitat.
Part of hunt supporters’ rationale: Bears have become a nuisance in some populated areas in central Florida, foraging through trash for food.
“One thing I hope this hunt will do is train bears to be afraid of humans again instead of there being no repercussions,” Artiles told my colleague Dan Sweeney last week.
Say what? How are we going to train bears since the ones who learn the lesson will be dead? And how does killing a bear in Collier County translate to reforming nuisance bears near Orlando? Will the bears who dodge bullets in the western Everglades go on Bear Facebook to alert their friends: “Those crazy humans are shooting at us! Stay away from trash cans and houses!”
“It’s not teaching like a circus animal, but I believe the hunting will pressure them,” Artiles, an avid hunter, told me. “It’s proven and documented that deer know to avoid humans during hunting season.”
“I don’t really believe this will change behavior,” Bergeron said. “Bears really want to avoid people. What brings them to town is garbage. It’s an easy meal.”
A better solution than a widespread hunt, Bergeron said, would be bringing bear-proof trash cans to the 14 counties where nuisance bears have been reported. And Bergeron led an effort to halt the harvesting of palmetto berries from state land, giving bears a better chance of finding meals in the wild. “We were taking away their natural food,” he said.
Next month, hunters will try to take away much more.
Come Oct. 24, I’ll be rooting for the bears.
mmayo@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4508.
Here is MY letter to the editor at our Stuart News.
Letter: Those opposed to the bear hunt are not ‘animal-rights extremists’
What is going on now in reaction to the Florida bear hunt is not a circus. It’s the reaction of most Floridians. Most of us are fine with hunting. We have many things in Florida you can hunt. In Florida, if it moves you can shoot it. Unless it is protected.
At last week’s hearing in Ft. Lauderdale I heard the hunters say they are for conservation and they know what they are doing. Well, they don’t. The hunters are being used to promote a bigger agenda, and that is deregulating everything so developers can develop and builders can build. Florida has the most protected species in the world — “developers.”
There will not be any land to hunt on because it going to be full of shopping centers and no-lot-line houses. There will be no hunting because there will be no place to hunt. When I spoke to a representative from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last year the plan was education. The issue was humans feeding the bears. There was no doubt about this. People needed to be educated.
There was a bill approved by the Senate that made it a third-degree felony to feed the bears. So instead of educating people we’re going to charge them with something that is as serious as possession of cocaine. Makes sense only because we live in Florida. We don’t fix things in Florida like normal people. Logic has no home here. The downlisting came after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was petitioned by Pacific Legal Foundation, a private property advocacy group in Sacramento, California. So let’s all settle down and do what needs to be done for our black bears. Stop the hunt. Educate.
So all good!
If you can please take a moment and vote on our poll. We just have a few days left.
First thing. Please go vote for Chuck O’ Neal. He is the person who is doing the law suit against the hunt. This ends tomorrow and the money will go towards the law suit which we desperately need since we can’t make decisions in Florida like human beings.
http://coxconservesheroes.com/orlando/finalists.aspx Chuck O’Neal
Chuck O’Neal has advocated for Florida’s natural resources for more than 15 years. An entrepreneur and lifelong Florida resident, Chuck has volunteered hundreds of hours educating voters and lawmakers on the importance of conserving Florida’s unique ecosystem. He organized “Speak up Wekiva,” which engaged community leaders and the public at large in the need to protect the aquifer and created greater awareness about the ill effects of groundwater pollution on people and wildlife. Chuck also leads advocacy efforts for the protection of the Florida black bear and played a vital role in the passing of the Florida Land and Water Conservation Initiative in 2014. His nonprofit of choice is the League of Women Voters of Florida Education Fund.
I was planning on writing a Bear update today. There was a letter to the editor in our local TC Palm that I responded to then I saw this. It’s a little fuzzy. You can see it better on the Animal Activists Network on Facebook. They are screenshots from Animal Activists Network on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/AnimalActivistsNetwork
They have been taken down but some smart person got these first. You can go to the Animal Activist Network and read them but essentially these guys are talking about how they are going to kill the bears with or without a permit. You can feel the foaming on their mouths.
This was the original post that I saw in the TC Palm this morning from a local hunter.
Letter: Here come animal-rights extremists with Florida bear hunt
Jim Weix, Palm City
“For example, one protest features a picture of a bear and her cub that says: “Please don’t shoot my mom!” The protesters don’t bother to mention that it would be illegal to shoot any bear with one or more cubs.
You also can’t shoot cubs, but this group seems to not want facts to get in its way.
Perhaps the circus will be beneficial. We will learn that not all people who are opposed to killing animals are “bad.” However, there are also extremists who will stop at nothing to further their beliefs.”
end of section.
I also watched the video last week of the people speaking down in Ft Lauderdale.
What i heard from the Hunters was they were the people conserving and they they knew what they were doing. But they don’t and this is why.
Because if you the hunters keep this up there will be no hunting and you are being used to promote a bigger agenda. So who’s being emotional now?
It’s been the job of the Pacific Legal Foundation to deregulate all the animals that are protected. They are now in many states but Florida is an easy target. Our legislators are dumb as bricks. We have the most protected species in the world “Developers.” There will not be any land to hunt on because it going to be full of wall marts,shopping centers, no lot line houses. There will be no hunting because there will be no place to hunt.
We have plenty of hunting in Florida and I don’t think you’ve heard an outcry like this.
Why?
Because we know two things and in your heart you know it too.
Floridians cannot be trusted to hunt bears. forgetaboutit We understand the lessons of the past when they were decimated.
When we hunt the bears the panthers will be next Then the land will be free to sell and develop and we will have nothing. OUR Florida will be gone. You wanna hunt dudes save up your mileage for flights up north because there will be no hunting here.
Don’t allow your self to be used. Settle down.
When I spoke a representative from FWC last year the plan was education. Period end of story. The issue was humans feeding the bears.
Way back last April I wrote this blogpost
Sorry about the formatting my wordpress is psycho this morning.
The downlisting came after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was petitioned by Pacific Legal Foundation, a private property attorney lobbying firm in Sacramento, Calif. Oddly, both the Endangered Species List and Pacific Legal Foundation were created in 1973.”
The downlisting did not come from Florida but out of state from a group that has been working on this since 1973 and have plenty of money.
States Rights people. Don’t let fat cat out of state interests mess with our state.
So here the story continues
“Conservatives you can’t have it both ways. You either believe in state and local rights or your being a hypocrite. I’m beginning to think more and more every day its the latter. These people tell you one thing and they do another. In other words your being duped. If you want to believe something believe it but don’t be duplicitous.”
So this is the story. These peoples jobs are to deregulate everything and then the developers come in and build build build. You want to hunt? There won’t be any hunting when they are done. You’ll be taking that trip up to Maine or NH to do your Bear Hunting.
So I’m just asking you to consider this since you consider yourselves conversationalists. You also have plenty to hunt and to eat. I’m not anti hunting for food and you can hunt for hundreds of animals in Florida. You can hunt your brains out.
OK I know long. So sorry but I want to get it all in one blogpost so I can tweet.
So here are the important updates so please go to the links I am providing and follow those people.
This is the Facebook page where all the events are posted https://www.facebook.com/stopbearhunt
This is a very important event. No matter what we need to get Bear Proof Garbage Cans out there. This is our work to be the voice of reason in the hunting season! https://www.facebook.com/events/689353931200109/
Tuesday, October 13 at 9:30a Seminole County Services Building – 1101 E. First Street in Sanford, FL 32771 Here’s one way you can help. The Seminole County Commission will be having a meeting with the FWC on October 13th.
Yes and support the right to ARM BEARS!
Asked whether bears are the biggest threat to bears, Wraithmell responds: “I don’t believe that’s supported by science right now…. In addition to habitat loss, major causes of mortality for bears in Florida are roadkill and euthanasia for nuisance bears.”
This is the video from the hearing in Ft Lauderdale.
Here are some comments I jotted down as I listened.
“Letters after Letters and we are being ignored.” (Sound familiar?)
Vivian Handy : 28 biologists redefinition was not due to the population number but when it was delisted as threatened. This will effect the success of dening. The hunt will introduce noise and fears, pregnant mothers could be short and the cubs could be shot.
People talk about Florida’s reputation. (Just kick us in the head.)
Persons with masters wetlands biologists says this ignorance greed trumping science
the humane society of the united states was there.
Chuck O’Neal: Your hunt is based on cherry picked data
We don’t even know how many bears we have!
You are appointed and not elected and you don’t have to listen to the people
we’ll see you court. We’ll see you in the media
Jon Ullman the sierra club: ” Its about development. ”
Your not going to get rid of the nuisance problem by opening up the hunt
If your going to kill something you should eat not stuff it.
I can’t believe these are the people making decisions for our animals.
There’s no explanation. This is rigged.
Ronald Bergeron, one of the commissioners, said he can’t vote for any quota is against the hunt because he doesn’t see the science. He believes that bears are an icon of Florida. He think the train has moved very rapidly.
(at about 2:00) He lays out the scenario about when hunting is appropriate.
2:08 water in the WMAS blamed sfwmd
position paper on water level (Have to go look for that)
Just so people know we have plenty of hunting in Florida but here on the FWC has proudly put a hunter with a dead bear on their website.
We NEED people to go hunting the Everglades for pythons and we need divers to go after Lionfish. We have alligator hunting, hog hunting, deer hunting, dove hunting, duck/waterfoul hunting, Raccoon, opossum, skunk, nutria, beaver, coyote, bobcat, and river otter, Quail, turkey and wild hogs.
Dove hunting really?
apparently so. If you google dove recipes there are plenty. Like this one.
It’s never too early to start thinking about who we need for Governor and we need to start doing this right now. We simply will not survive any of Rick Scott’s cronies and I’m sure he’s got his own people up his nasty evil sleeves to pass on this murderous deregulation.
I’ve been told the end game is total deregulation so polluters can pollute and builders can build where ever they want. I see it going on here even in Martin County where this guy wants to build these really ugly places where you have your business downstairs and you live upstairs. The location is right near our beautiful greenway and Haney Creek.
This is not the Martin County I moved to. The one I moved too had a clean lagoon, lots and lots and lots of green. The old road near my house was upgraded to a pretty road with little circles just ripe for a developer to build what ever he wants and the sewage lines are not moved up near the lagoon where we could all hook up but close enough for developers to develop.
I read on twitter last week that the most protected animal in Florida was the developer.
But right now I want to talk about black bears.
We used to have black bears here on Hutchinson Island. My friend, fellow wordpress blogger and future Martin County Commissioner wrote a blog about it.
Before modern man came and planted bean fields and produced honey, the bears ate turtle eggs, palmetto berries and the riches of the Indian River Lagoon and St Lucie River. But they they became a problem, so we “wiped them out.”
We wiped them out.
We must stop wiping things out.
must.
We must live in the sunshine. We live in the sunshine state but do not have sunshine. Only evil darkness that lurks like the boogeymen under our beds. Koch roaches.
I spent the last few years documenting our water issues. We didn’t get what we needed and there is lots to do but I really believe in my heart that we were meant to go through what we did together to make us better, smarter, well educated advocates who have a really clear vision of what the big picture is. We literally saw people following the orders of rick scott. It’s our job to educate others. Asking for things will not work. The will of the people does not work. We are seeing this with amendment 1. The people of Florida voted for amendment one and the legislators stole it.
We need a Governor who will remember that he represents us and not his evil cronies.
You watch this trailer and then you tell me if you want to go out and kill a bear. For what? Bear doesn’t taste good. No one wears fur.
Who is the enemy of the bear? Humans.
This week there was a big meeting in Fort Lauderdale. This is what happened.
“The bear hunt, approved by the commission in June and set to start Oct. 24, will last from two to seven days. While the hunt is supposed to end in each region once the preset quotas are reached, hunters are guaranteed a minimum of two days of pursuing bears.
The state has sold 1,948 bear hunting permits SO FAR.
I’m go to throw something else out here. The purpose of government is to protect us. I never really thought about this until I went for training to be a weather spotter. The mission of our weather service is not to entertain us or drive us crazy when storm are approaching. Life and Limb. That’s it!
Florida fish and wildlife have the nerve to have this on their website.
“Whether fishing or hunting, we hope you enjoy your time and we appreciate your thoughtful participation in the preservation and conservation of the natural resources in the great State of Florida. Thank you.”
“Despite throngs of protesters, bear advocates were dealt a crushing defeat Wednesday when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved the killing of 320 bears next month during the state’s first bear hunting season in more than 20 years.
“When this many people are speaking out and advocating for the bears, how would it have hurt them to put it off for a year and get better science behind it?” Terri Miller asked.
The decision by FWC comes after a series of bear attacks on people and pets.”
Except those bears are not the one’s getting killed. The hunters are going into the forest and chasing the bears out of their habitat into the populated areas.
Only in Florida.
Of course there is no science because the government of Florida doesn’t believe in science. They only believe in cronies.
This is an online bear hunt protest on Facebook. It will take place every Friday and you can send a message to the people who are in charge. Tell them you won’t come to Florida if this hunt goes through.
Thank you so much everyone! It’s very important that people from outside Florida speak out and condemn this.The majority of the people of Florida do not want this bear hunt. We need to take our Florida back.
I’ve written a few blogs in the past about our Black Bear situation but it’s really has come to critical mass and we must do something to stop the madness that is going on in Florida right now. We have been taken over by a bunch of loonies with a plan of their own. Not just for us but for our treasures panthers, manatees and black bears.
At one time the Black Bear was endangered. Now we have a fabulous healthy population. What do they do? They kill them.
“(From a post by Fred Bohler) Cubs will stay with their mother for 18-24 months. When i was with FWC, the rule was , cubs of a deceased female that were under 35 pounds were euthanized. Cubs 35 -50 pounds were left on their own and had about a 10-20% chance of survival respectively. Obviously without proper foraging/ hunting skills , most cubs are doomed. Male bears will readily hunt them down and kill them. I was involved with one of the few rehabilitation efforts for a cub to be released back into the wild by FWC. Even that had its problems, once again, man could not be trusted not to imprint the cub. The release was marginally successful.”
This week we all saw this fabulous video on the news. “Der’s bears in da pool. They took my floaties.”
How can we as humans watch this video and then allow hunters to hunt mothers and then euthanize the cubs. Most of Floridians are against hunting the bears and I’m sure no life loving person could be ok with killing a mother and euthanizing their cubs. If they are then they are hypocrites. 61% percent of Floridians are against this.
“A state-wide poll commissioned by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) earlier this year showed that 61% of Floridians were against bear hunting, with overwhelming majorities favoring educational outreach programs and the widespread use of bear-proof garbage cans. When the HSUS delivered a petition to Governor Rick Scott with 90,000 names calling upon him to block the hunt, Scott deferred to the Republican-packed FWC, whose chairman, Richard Corbett, dismissed the concerns of these Florida citizens in the following way:
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expects to announce a decision later this year on a petition from the Pacific Legal Foundation to reclassify the manatee from endangered to threatened. The petition was submitted on behalf of Save Crystal River, a group of property owners concerned about boating restrictions in King’s Bay in Citrus County.
“Those people don’t know what they’re talking about. Most of those people have never been in the woods. They think we’re talking about teddy bears. “Oh Lord, don’t hurt my little teddy bear!’ Well these bears are dangerous…. Do you want blood on your hands? We don’t. We have taken a step.”
A step towards murdering a mother and leaving her babies to die.
Don’t be a hypocrite.
This is what we can do to help.
There are two paid and four volunteer attorneys working on the lawsuit against the FWC to stop the hunt. You can help pay the legal expenses by donating to the legal fund. All donations, large or small, are greatly appreciated.
Here is the link to the gofundme account to pay for this.
If we can all give ten bucks that’s a lot of bucks that will help for this lawsuit.
2) If you are unable to donate monetarily, you can donate some time by helping to spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, email and letters to the editor. You can also help the cause receive a $10,000 award from Cox Conserves by voting for Chuck O’Neal here. One click one vote 10,000 bucks towards the cause.
O’Neal, an environmental activist and a real-estate investor in Longwood, filed a lawsuit against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to stop the state agency from allowing people to hunt bears. He was joined in his suit by Speak Up Wekiva, a nonprofit group based in Lake Mary.
“Filing this lawsuit is something that fulfills this commitment,” O’Neal said.
3) As a contingency plan, if all other means to stop the hunt fail, there are going to be a series of statewide protests and an immeasurable amount of negative publicity for FWC and the state officials who are responsible. You can find one in your area here:
4) And possibly the most important. PLEASE REGISTER TO VOTE and help insure that all your friends vote in EVERY election. You can join a great organization with a long history of education, voter registration and advocacy here:
On October 10th, 2015, the small Central Florida town of Umatilla, on the southern edge of the Ocala National Forest, is scheduled to hold its annual Black Bear Festival. The event, organized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), has traditionally been aimed at educating young and old alike about the area’s wildlife, featuring presentations and guided eco-tours of the nearby forest. For a town that used to label itself “The Gateway to the Forest,” the event was a wholesome family activity and entirely fitting. This year’s event promises to be extra-special, for it will mark the two-week countdown to the resumption of bear hunting after a twenty-one-year hiatus, affording Florida’s families a wonderful new way to interact with their natural environment. It remains to be seen whether the organizers will set up bear-shaped targets for youngsters to aim at in Cadwell Park, or will hide the reality of the coming bloodbath behind their fraudulent and authoritarian claim of managerial responsibility Ok so to wrap this up grew our black bear population out of endangered to a large population. We now after many years have bear hunting. Hunters can kill the mothers and that means a dismal outcome for the cubs. This whole thing is orchestrated from the darkness who have found Florida a great place to destroy for their own greedy reasons.
Here is an article about Ted Nugent buying his permit to kill bears in Florida.
Remember when Michael Grunwald was here and he said “Big Sugar has a right to be in business” and everyone groaned. Well, that’s true. They do. What I don’t think they have the right to get subsidies to stay alive when the rest of the businesses have to put themselves out there and if they succeed they succeed and if they don’t they don’t.
The same thing goes for Pacific Legal Foundation. Conservatives you can’t have it both ways. You either believe in state and local rights or your being a hypocrite. I’m beginning to think more and more every day its the latter. These people tell you one thing and they do another. In other words your being duped. If you want to believe something believe it but don’t be duplicitous.
Yesterday, I wrote this blogpost about how Pacific Legal Foundation is the common denominator with issues with our Florida Panthers, Florida Black Bears and Manatees. They were also on Lawsuit for the Chesapeake Bay.
“We support a clean and healthy environment and sensible use of our natural resources. Private landowners and conservation groups have a vested interest in maintaining natural resources. Pollution and misuse of resources cause damage to our ecosystem. Governments, unlike private businesses, are unaccountable for such damage done to our environment and have a terrible track record when it comes to environmental protection. Protecting the environment requires a clear definition and enforcement of individual rights in resources like land, water, air, and wildlife. Free markets and property rights stimulate the technological innovations and behavioral changes required to protect our environment and ecosystems. We realize that our planet’s climate is constantly changing, but environmental advocates and social pressure are the most effective means of changing public behavior.”
Let me repeat “environmental advocates and social pressure are the most effective means of changing public behavior.”
(P.S. It looks like they believe in climate change)
So it’s hypercritical for the Pacific Legal Foundation to mess with the free will of our Florida Black Bears.
That’s my logical conclusion.
Duplicitous
So is the Pacific Legal Foundation a libertarian foundation. I don’t think so.
I think they are a Koch Brothers, Scaife Foundation lackeys hiding out in bosom of an unending cash cow and really sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong but where their masters want them to go.
Not free thinking at all. Not what I would expect from Libertarians.
It’s this behavoir, this intrusion into our Legislature this past year that I think made our head’s spin.
Who is the Pacific Legal Foundation and why are our Panthers, Manatees and Bears their Business?
Or anything else for that matter.
Just as a reminder we live in a democracy and we vote these people in to represent us.
About a month ago there was an issue up in Brevard, incited by some behind the scene bs getting all down on Thad Altman for being ok with the purchase of the land to send the water south and not dealing with his section of the Indian River Lagoon.
You can’t have it both ways. Pick a way and do that.
But what we ALL can’t have is people from other places making rules for us. If you want to be an elected official you talk to us your constituents not to the Pacific Legal Foundation or Citizens United. You work for us. If you work for them then give up your office and work for them. Can’t have it.
Other bloggers, writers in other states – we all need to compare notes. I guarantee the same thing is happening everywhere and one day we’re going to wake up and say “What happened?” (as we float down to Miami in our Kayaks.)
We all got upset when Pam Bondi signed on to a lawsuit for the polluters in the case of Chesapeake Bay. Most of us felt that Florida had no business being involved and using our tax money on a case not in our state when her job is to work for Florida. Pam Bondi! You work for us!
What we witnessed this past year was Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature making Florida their own personal slush fund at the expense of all of us. The Tea Party was given verbiage to incite them like “Land Grabs” and they went out like the sheeples they deplore and worked tirelessly for the 1%. Tea Party you have been duped. Brainwashed. You are not free. You are slaves for the Koch Brothers.
The Pacific Legal Foundation is a Sacramento, California-based legal organization that was established March 5, 1973 [1] to support pro-business causes. In recent years, it has taken a lead in pursuing anti-affirmative action policies.
It is the key right-wing public interest litigation firm in a network of similar organizations funded initially by Scaife Foundations money across the USA to support capitalism and oppose environmental and health activism and government regulation.
The organization has been partially funded by a range of corporations and conservative foundations, including by the Koch family Claude R. Lambe Foundation in 1998.
These people don’t believe in freedom they believe in pushing their own agenda that call conservative and they have their own Tea Party out their representing them.
Florida is not the Koch Brothers private playground.
And they may be treading into waters other people would not want you to go. After all, one of the reasons given not to buy the land was because of endangered birds that were there. You effectively would take that away from SFWMD and Big sugar and I don’t think they would be too happy about that.
“Tobacco Industry associations
PLF is listed as a “key third party ally” in a September 14, 1999 Philip Morris document.[6]
In 1989, Philip Morris began funding the organization through its Mission Viejo (gated-community land-development company) subsidiary, mainly because the organisation was active in the property rights area and had won cases limiting the States’ ability to expropriate or regulate private property. The Mission Viejo subsidiary was interested in fighting a no-growth initiative which had been blocking some of their development projects. At this stage Philip Morris only gave an annual grant of $5,000 each year, just to keep the organisation on side and available, but it may have also funded specific legal projects.
By 1991 the PLF had a major budget crisis. It was in deficit to the tune of about $1 million, which was about a quarter of its $4 million annual requirements. Not long after, Roy Marden, the Philip Morris executive in charge of maintaining relations with the right-wing think tanks and advocacy institutes, joined the PLF board. Overnight the funding increased substantially to $10,000, and then $22,000 by 1993. Philip Morris also began to utilize the PLF to undertake hidden media and political activities on its behalf.
The PLF also intervened successful in Keller v. California State Bar, where it established a legal precedent that California lawyers could challenge the use of their dues to the state bar for political purposes. This was an successful attempt to block collective actions by the more liberal Californian lawyers who were involving themselves in such policy areas as class-actions and product liability.
By the mid 1990s the PLF had offices in Sacramento, Anchorage and Seattle and ran several key issues and programs:
Judicial Responsibility Project
College of Public Interest Law
Limited Government Project
It also sloughed off the Center for Applied Jurisprudence which focused on commercial “free speech issues” (i.e., the right to advertise harmful products) and “regulatory reform.” Philip Morris was giving them a $25,000 retainer by this time (and presumably paying also for work done on their behalf).
In 1997-1998 the PLF joined forces with the $10 million funded (by Philip Morris) National Smokers Alliance, in a fierce and vindictive legal attack on Professor Stanton Arnold Glantz, a leader of California’s main anti-smoking organization, Americans for Nonsmokers Rights[9] and attempted to brand him in the public mind as having something to hide … a destroyer of legal document (a ruse the tobacco industry used itself on a massive scale). Glantz had received documents from the early tobacco industry whistleblowers, and he had established the first public-access Internet web site revealing how the industry operated.
Anti-Environment Policies
According to ExxonSecrets.org, the Pacific Legal Foundation has received $110,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998. The website goes on to state that:
Anti-environmental from the start, PLF’s early actions supported the use of DDT, the use of herbicides in national forests, and the use of public range land without requiring an environmental impact review. They also supported at least six pro-nuclear power cases before the early eighties while accepting funding from Pacific General Electric (PGE), a utility which has gained a great deal through the development of nuclear power in the Pacific Northwest. In the 1980s, PLF won several cases that are considered landmarks by those working on property rights issues today: Nollan v the California Coastal Commission and First Church, both Supreme Court victories which provide precedence for the takings litigation pursued today (Oliver Houck, “With Charity For All,” Yale Law Journal, 1993). In October 2003, PLF Vice President M. David Stirling had an Op-Ed published in which he defended President Bush’s environmental record and condemned former President Clinton for endorsing the Kyoto Protocol.”
Yikes!
Their the merchants of death! DDT for everyone. You get DDT and you get DDT!
SO Pacific Legal Foundation if you want to help people and their freedom please do so but please stop trampling on us. Florida is not up for grabs. We don’t care what Rick tells you. It’s just not true.
Rick Scott and his love affair with Pacific Legal Foundation!
For years, Florida law prohibited craft beer brewers and sellers from offering their beverage in the standard-size container used throughout the country.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott plans to sue the CMS, accusing the agency of unconstitutionally trying to force the state to expand Medicaid by ending funding that now helps Florida hospitals pay for uncompensated care for low-income and uninsured patients.
But Todd Gaziano, a senior fellow in constitutional law with the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation, said the Florida situation presents the same legal issue as the one in NFIB. Still, he said, the argument of unconstitutional coercion in the Florida case, is “far from a slam dunk.” The Pacific Legal Foundation filed a separate lawsuit challenging the ACA.
“It’s the kind of claim that should not be dismissed at the outset,” Gaziano said. “It’s a claim that presents a reasonable legal argument.” But he conceded that the claim is not as clear, even if the government’s object is the same: to apply pressure on the state to expand Medicaid eligibility.
cyndi lenz 