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DEP, DACS officers to join forces with FWC

Expect to see FWC officers available in state parks and forests  On July 1, officers and staff from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services (DACS) will be combined with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) in a move directed by the Florida Legislature and approved by Gov. Rick Scott. The 145 new sworn officers will don FWC uniforms and integrate completely into the ranks of the FWC, resulting in more...

Gopher Tortoise Management Plan draft ready for public input

Did you know a gopher tortoise burrow provides a home for hundreds of other species? A new draft of the five-year update to the Gopher Tortoise Management Plan for the state is available for review. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is asking for public input. The threatened gopher tortoise is classified as a keystone species, because its extensive burrows offer shelter to more than 350 other species such as the federally threatened eastern indigo snake. Gopher tortoises...

Snakes are plentiful this spring in the Florida Panhandle

Snakes are out; be careful By Stan Kirkland, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Phil Manor remembers the day like it was yesterday. It was late spring in 1993 when he was working by himself on the Apalachicola River Wildlife and Environmental Area tearing out a beaver dam on a wetland. Manor, who at the time had worked four years as a wildlife biologist with the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, was almost through with his work when...

FWC asks for help in chipmunk research

Have you seen a chipmunk lately? Eastern chipmunks are thought to live in only a few locations in Northwest Florida but researchers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) are asking anyone who has spotted one to report the sighting. Wildlife biologist Chris Winchester said information may be recorded at https://public.myfwc.com/hsc/chipmunk/getlatlong.aspx. Smaller than a gray squirrel, the Eastern chipmunk is slightly reddish in color and has white and black stripes running down its back and light stripes above...

Now is the time to apply for gator permits

Phase I application period ends May 16 By Stan Kirkland, FWC Those people looking for a different type of hunting experience will soon have their chance. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is accepting permit applications now to hunt alligators during the upcoming season. The state alligator harvest season is Aug. 15 through Nov. 1. It is the twenty-fifth year Florida has had a statewide alligator hunting season. Steve Stiegler, a wildlife biologist in the alligator management program,...

FWC Commissioners set 2012 recreational red snapper season in the Gulf

The 2012 recreational red snapper season in Gulf of Mexico state waters will be June 1 – July 10 The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) set the 2012 season Wednesday, May 2, at the Commission meeting in Crystal River. The state season is the same as the recently announced federal recreational red snapper season. The Commission also voted to keep a 40-day, June 1 through July 10 season regardless of whether the federal season is further shortened. Florida...

Flathead catfish common in Northwest Florida rivers

Non native fish populate most area waterways By Stan Kirkland, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission  A Jackson County man fishing in the Apalachicola River near Chattahoochee in 1982 landed the strangest catfish he had ever seen. It turned out he had a flathead catfish, a species of catfish not native to the southeastern U.S. Now, three decades later, flatheads are in every river in the Florida Panhandle from the Ochlockonee River west to the Escambia River. They are in...

Four license-free fishing days in Florida start April 7

Freshwater: April 7 and June 9  Saltwater: June 2 and Sept. 1 Grab your fishing rods and tackle box. It’s almost time – April 7 – to take advantage of the first of four license-free fishing days scheduled for this summer in Florida. The days are perfect chances for parents, who don’t yet have a license, to take youth fishing, or for avid anglers to introduce a friend to the recreational pursuit without having to purchase a license. The Florida...