Alligator Hunting Allowed on Two South Florida STAs
State agencies will allow alligator hunting on Stormwater Treatment Area 1-West in Palm Beach County and Stormwater Treatment Area 5 in Hendry County.
For the third year in a row, hunters with appropriate permits can target alligators in Stormwater Treatment Area (STA) 1-West, in Palm Beach County, and STA 5, in Hendry County, on specific weekends from August to October. The Water Management District authorized the FWC to label the two treatment areas as “Alligator Management Units,” which allows the land to be used for alligator hunting.
The fish and wildlife commission will permit hunters to take a total of 300 alligators from the two STAs. In the treatment areas, hunting is only permitted on the weekends. Alligators must be hunted from motorless boats or on foot.
“The motorized boating restriction is designed to prevent boats from stirring up plants and sediments in the constructed treatment wetlands,” says Randy Smith of the South Florida Water Management District.
STAs were designed originally for water quality treatment, to absorb harmful chemicals such as phosphorus from leaching into pristine Everglades waters. Duck and alligator hunters have enjoyed a fringe benefit.
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