Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
FWC: Seminole County bear conflicts down after ordinance, education and trash interventions; public input sought on regulated hunt options
Summary
Florida Fish and Wildlife reported lower bear conflict calls in Seminole County for 2024 compared with a decade earlier. The agency praised local ordinances, trash-can programs and outreach; it will hold stakeholder meetings and a virtual public webinar as part of a fact-finding phase on options for a regulated bear hunt.
Mike Orlando, bear management program coordinator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, told the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners on March 11 that most bear calls in the Northeast region are general sightings, not actionable conflicts, and that Seminole County has seen a marked decline in problem calls after ordinances, education and trash-management efforts.
Orlando said the agency received about 2,600 calls across the Northeast region in 2024 and that Seminole County accounted for 308 of those calls, which ranks the county eighth in the region. "This is actually gonna be relatively short. And the reason for that is because, you guys are doing an amazing job," Orlando said during the annual update.
Why it matters: Commissioners and staff said…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
