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06/13/26 5:03:11am [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, [4], 5 ]

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Date Posted: 01/28/08 9:03:16am
Author: wayne davis
Subject: Good read on suggested Quota Changes

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
FLORIDA QUOTA HUNT WORKGROUP
DRAFT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY—DECEMBER 19, 2007
DRAFT WORK GROUP FINDINGS

1. Purpose of Quota Hunt Program. The Florida Quota Hunt Program is designed to provide system users (hunters) fair access to Florida’s Wildlife Management Areas (WMA’s), while protecting the habitat, properly managing the resource, and providing a quality hunting experience. The FWC’s stated objective for the Florida Quota Hunt Program is: to help prevent overcrowding and control harvest on Wildlife Management Areas (WMA’s) and provide hunters with quality hunting experiences.

2. Hunting is in Decline. The number of Florida hunters, as measured by annual hunting licenses, has been trending downward in recent years, as has the percentage of hunters relative to the overall population.

3. Quota Hunt Program Based on Science. The Florida Quota Hunt Program should continue to be based on and informed by the best available science, to ensure a sustainable harvest and enhance resource and habitat protection.

4. Isolated Fixes to the Program. FWC responses to concerns and issues raised by hunter stakeholders that have arisen since the quota hunt was established in 1975 have often been piecemeal and isolated, rather than comprehensive and systematic.

5. Program has not Ensured Fairness. The Quota Hunt Program has failed to achieve a fair distribution of hunting opportunities for Florida’s wildlife management areas due to its complexity, inaccessibility and susceptibility to manipulation. The unintended consequences and documented abuses of the program point out shortcomings in the program that have deprived some hunters of the opportunity to hunt on public lands.

6. Quota Permits Used to Control Resource. Individuals in possession of extra permits that go unused are preventing other hunters from enjoying the resource.

7. Program Not Effective in Recruitment and Retention. The current Quota Hunt Program is not effectively contributing to the long term successful recruitment and retention of hunters of all ages, so vital to the future of hunting in Florida.

Quota Hunt Work Group Revised Draft Findings and Recommendations, December 19, 2007 2
WORK GROUP DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR CHANGES TO THE QUOTA HUNT PROGRAM

I. Basing Quota Hunt Program Design and Management on Science

A. Quota Adjustments Based on Data. To ensure a sustainable harvest, site specific collected data related to hunter use and demand, game populations, and habitat assessments should be used on an ongoing basis to establish and maintain quotas for each WMA, as well as determining whether a quota is needed. In addition to site-specific data, the popularity of the WMA and the demand for hunting opportunities should be considered as a factor in making management decisions.

B. Data Collection. The Workgroup recommends using check stations and the total licensing system as mechanisms for collecting meaningful data for making ongoing decisions on the quota hunt program (i.e., hunter use information: how many hunters use their own quota permit, how many hunters use a transferred quota permit, hunter identification, and game taken, etc.).

C. Management Area Quota Review. The Work Group recommends that FWC staff implement a regularly scheduled evaluation of WMA quotas and make adjustments based on science and the work group’s guiding principles as appropriate.

II. ACHIEVING A FAIR DISTRIBUTION AND EXPANDING HUNTING OPPORTUNITIES IN FLORIDA

A. Expand Quota Hunts and Choices. The Workgroup recommends that Phase 1 permits be non-transferable. The hunt types could be expanded from two (2) hunt types to four (4) hunt types (each with its own application) and the quota hunt permits would be expanded from a possible total of two (2) permits to eight (8) permits. The four hunt types would be: archery, general gun, muzzle loading and wild hog with two permits possible for each hunt type and five (5) choices for each hunt type expanding from a current possible total of 10 choices to 20 choices on four (4) applications. Preference points would be separately tracked for each of the four hunt categories. For the transition period from the current system to the new system, general gun preference points would transfer to general gun, and archery and muzzleloading would transfer to archery and muzzleloading respectively.

B. Create an Expanded Preference System. The Workgroup recommends that the Preference system only apply to applications made in Phase 1 for all five hunt types. Preference points would be accumulated for each hunt type until the customer is successful in receiving a permit for each hunt type. Applicants would be awarded a preference point for each hunt type and for each year that they apply during Phase I if they did not receive a permit in one of the Phase I random drawings.

In the Preference Drawing, applicants with the highest number of preference points would be selected first. Applicants with the next highest preference points would be selected next and so forth. However, only 1 quota permit may be drawn per random selection cycle (pass). Preference points may only be used for the first permit drawn. This process is designed to increase the likelihood that a hunter who did not get a permit in the previous year during the Phase I application period would have an increased chance during the current year Phase I drawings for being selected for a quota permit.

Unused preference points would be retained by the applicant and would be available for use in subsequent years. They would not be lost if the applicant did not apply each year. There would be no points added in years for which the applicant did not apply for a quota permit.

C. Modify Transferability of Permits in Phase I. Permits would remain transferable, except for the permits issued in the Phase I drawings. The permits issued during the Phase I drawings would be non-transferable. For each hunt type, permits would be limited to two permits, per hunt number, per person, for all phases.

D. Expand the Mobility Impaired Quota. The Workgroup recommends that for Mobility Impaired hunters, Phase I permits would be non-transferable with two potential permits per person. Phase I would consist of one (1) application with 5 choices. Phase II is a first-come, first-served process, with two (2) potential quota permits per person. Phase III would feature a random drawing with one (1) application, one (1) permit, per person, per drawing and multiple drawings. A Mobility Permit Guest would be allowed to hunt all areas with their own bag limit, but must share the bag limit with permit holder on Dupuis, Ralph Simmons, Seminole Forest and Three Lakes WMA’s consistent with their rules.

E. Expand Hunt Buddy Exemptions for Disabled Hunters and Retain Other Current Exemptions. The Workgroup recommends that there be an exemption allowing hunt buddies for disabled hunters with mobility impaired certification to share a quota permit. The hunt buddy would be in the presence of the mobility impaired hunter and share their bag limit.

F. No Show Pilot for Mobility Impaired Hunts. The Workgroup recommends that a pilot project be initiated to assess the impact of non-transferability on the “no-show” rate for existing Mobility Impaired Hunts, allowing for up to 50% of no shows to be issued by a drawing, at the mandatory mobility impaired pre-hunt meeting.

III. RECRUITING AND RETAINING HUNTERS

A. Enhance Family Quota Hunts. The Workgroup supports the Commission’s (FWC’s) efforts to implement additional family quota hunts.

B. Create a Guest Permit Program. The Workgroup recommends that the holder of a non-transferable quota permit may obtain guest permits. Guest permits are limited to one permit per person, per hunt type and hunt number. Unless exempt, the guest would be required to have the appropriate license and permits. The quota hunt permit holder and guest would enter and exit the WMA together. Shared bag limits would be considered prior to implementing any quota hunt reductions. Where the current bag limit is 2 or more game, the bag limit would be shared. Where the bag limit is one deer, an evaluation and assessment would be made by the FWC to determine whether hunters will have to share the bag limit.

C. Assess the Impacts of the New Quota System on Recruitment and Retention. The Workgroup recommends that the FWC assess the experience of hunters under the new quota hunt program and make any necessary adjustment following the review of impacts on hunter quotas, hunter recruitment and retention and enforcement and compliance in utilizing the program.

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