Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

History

In 1998 an amendment to the Florida Constitution approved the establishment of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) with a headquarters in Tallahassee, the state capital on July 1, 1999. It resulted from a merger between three former offices, namely the Marine Fisheries Commission, Division of Marine Resources, the former Florida Marine Patrol (FMP) and Division of Law Enforcement of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and all of the employees and Commissioners of the former Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission (FGFWC).

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) since then serves as the environmental regulatory agency for the state, enforcing environmental legislation regarding air and water quality, for example.

In 2004, the Florida Legislature approved to integrate parts of the Division of Wildlife, Division of Freshwater Fisheries, and the Florida Marine Research Institute to create the 'Fish and Wildlife Research Institute' (FWRI) in St. Petersburg, Florida. It has over 600 employees.

As of 2014 the FWC had over 2,000 full-time employees, maintained the FWRI, five regional offices, and 73 field offices across the state.

Organizational Units

As of 2013, the FWC had six divisions:

The FWC has the following 11 offices for administrative purposes:

Commissioners

The Florida Constitution authorizes the Commission to enact rules and regulations regarding the state's fish and wildlife resources for their long-term well-being and the benefit of people. To do this, the seven Governor of Florida-appointed Commissioners meet five times each year to hear staff reports, consider rule proposals, and conduct other business. Because stakeholder involvement is a crucial part of the process, the Commission meets in different locations across the state giving citizens the opportunity to address the Commission about issues under consideration.

The seven commissioners of the FWC are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Florida legislature for five-year terms. Typically, commissioners come from different geographical areas of the state in order to ensure that the FWC adequately protects the entire state of Florida, but it is not unusual to have multiple commissioners from the same city or region. Their constitutional duty is to exercise the "...regulatory and executive powers of the state with respect to wild animal life and fresh water aquatic life and shall also exercise regulatory and executive powers of the state with respect to marine life, except that all license fees and penalties for violating regulations shall be as provided by law." The Commissioners as of 2016 are:

Controversy

In 2012, the FWC adopted a plan on how the Florida Black Bear should be managed over the next 10 years. It created 'Bear Management Units' based on seven geographically distinct bear subpopulations. In June 2015, the FWC approved "a limited bear hunt to take place beginning October 24, 2015 in four of the seven Bear Management Units".

Wildlife Management Areas

Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) conserve nearly 6 million acres of Florida’s natural habitat. The areas exist to protect fish and wildlife resources, as well as to provide recreational opportunities such as hunting and wildlife-viewing.

The first Wildlife Management Area, Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA, was established in 1941 with Pittman-Robertson Act funds. Since that time, 45 lead properties (see below) have been added to this system. FWC also manages a number of other cooperative properties in conjunction with other agencies.

2017 marks the 75th anniversary of the Wildlife Management Area system. Events will be held statewide and include a kickoff event on January 21, 2017 at Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA, several bioblitzes, and a final event at Tosohatchee WMA on December 2, 2017.