Senate Bill 430 and House Bill 265 propose No-Net-Loss of Hunting Lands. If the bills become law, they would require an inventory of state lands where hunting may be appropriate and would require the state to create new hunting areas when opportunities are lost.

For example, if the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) entered into a lease agreement with a private land owner for public hunting, and then the leaser sells the land for development, the state would have to re-create that opportunity elsewhere.

Initially, agencies and environmental groups were concerned that state parks would be opened to hunting, but the bills’ authors and a wide variety of stakeholders and agencies worked out a compromise that would keep hunters out of state parks where they aren’t currently allowed.

The list of folks signing on in support includes, The Nature Conservancy (Marianne Gengenbach), Florida Audubon Society (Eric Draper/Julie Wraithmell) , Florida Wildlife Federation (David Gluckman/Manley Fuller) National Rifle Association (Marion Hammer), Unified Sportsmen of Florida (Marion Hammer), FWC (Ken Haddad/Nick Wiley), the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, (Colleen Castille/Jennifer Fitzwater), Standing Watch (Jim Kalvin), Florida Airboat Association ( Phil Walters), and Allied Sportsmen's Association of Florida (Lane Stephens) which is comprised of the following organizations:

       Florida State Chapter of National Wild Turkey Federation
       Everglades Coordinating Council
       Florida Dog Hunters and Sportsmen's Association
       SCI - Tampa Chapter    
       SCI - South Florida Chapter
       SCI - North Florida Chapter  
       Tall Timbers Research Station
       United Water Fowlers of Florida

“By preserving our hunting heritage, we preserve a demand for wild places and healthy populations of wildlife,” said hunting and environmental advocate, Jack Moller, the first member of the Florida Wildlife Federation.

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