Environmental activists are making their final stand against Florida's controversial wildlife decision.
Nearly 200 protesters descended on Tallahassee demanding the Governor step in.
And the Sierra Club just handed Ron DeSantis one nasty ultimatum over Florida bear hunt.
Environmental groups launch full-court press on bear hunting
Charter buses rolled into Florida's capital on Monday carrying environmental activists from six cities across the state.
The Sierra Club Florida orchestrated the massive rally at the Historic Capitol, bringing protesters from Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, and Gainesville to oppose December's scheduled black bear hunt.¹
"He is the person who can step in and stop this hunt," Sierra Club Florida executive director Suzanne Randolph declared.¹ "He's a buck stop here kind of guy, and he needs to tell his Florida Wildlife Commission to stop it."
https://twitter.com/SierraClubFL/status/1990543549398499372?s=20
The demonstration represents the latest escalation in a nearly year-long fight to block Florida's first bear hunting season in a decade.
Governor Ron DeSantis now faces mounting pressure to intervene before the December 6-28 hunt begins.
But the Governor has remained silent on the controversy, even as protestors marched through downtown Tallahassee chanting "stop the hunt" outside his mansion.
The Sierra Club organized the buses to pick up passengers at 5:30 a.m., with protesters scheduled to return home by 8 p.m. after delivering their message.²
"We want to be known for sunshine and beaches, not the killing of our impaired endangered species here," Bobbie Lee Davenport of the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida told reporters.³
The timing wasn't coincidental.
A Leon County judge is set to hear a lawsuit next Monday that could shut down the entire hunt.
FWC claims constitutional authority trumps scientific debate
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission unanimously approved the bear hunt in August, authorizing up to 172 bears to be killed across four management zones.
The FWC insists it has "exclusive constitutional authority to adopt reasonable rules" to manage wildlife populations.⁴
Commission attorneys argue the hunt enables Florida's 4,000 black bears to "continue to thrive" while providing "appropriate balance between the population of bears and the public."⁴
The hunt emerged last December when FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto directed staff to develop hunting rules following reports of increased bear-human conflicts.
Bear nuisance calls jumped from 2,000 in 2016 to more than 6,000 in 2024.
But the push for hunting came directly from DeSantis-appointed commissioners, not from FWC's professional wildlife staff.
In their motion to dismiss the lawsuit, FWC attorneys told Judge Angela Dempsey that if Bear Warriors United succeeds in blocking the hunt, it "would set a precedent where courts can supplant the judgment of the Commission."⁴
The agency maintains Florida law doesn't require commission decisions to be "based on scientifically based recommendations."⁴
That admission has become the centerpiece of opponents' constitutional challenge.
Conservative hunters join fight against DeSantis bear hunt
Tom Haller, a Florida Sportsmen License holder from Seminole County, traveled to Monday's rally wearing an Indiana Jones-style fedora and supporting his wife Cindy, who wore a GOP elephant pin on her "Stop the Bear Hunt" t-shirt.²
"This is not a partisan issue. It's conservation," Cindy Haller said.²
The couple owns a farm in Lake County surrounded by Seminole State Forest and regularly encounters bears on their property.
https://twitter.com/JackLinFLL/status/1990416127004979296?s=20
Tom holds hunting licenses for deer, turkey, and waterfowl – but not bears.
"We've had more than our fair share of bear encounters, and we love them, and we're not afraid of them," Tom Haller explained.² "We don't think they should be hunted and killed."
Bear Warriors United attorney Raquel Levy says the lawsuit shows FWC commissioners acted arbitrarily when they introduced bear hunting at the end of a staff presentation about reducing nuisance calls.
"There was no call for a hunt," attorney Thomas Crapps told the press.² "The Commission directed staff to develop rules for hunting. Why? Is this based on science and conservation or some other factor?"
The group's lawsuit alleges FWC used "obsolete data and assumptions" from a 2014-2015 population study despite newer information becoming available.⁵
Florida ended bear hunting in 1994 when the population crashed to fewer than 1,000 animals.
The state briefly resumed hunting in 2015, but shut it down after just two days when 304 bears were killed – 178 of them female, with about 40 lactating mothers nursing cubs.²
That disaster convinced many Floridians that regulated bear hunting puts wildlife at risk.
Surveys indicate a substantial majority of Floridians oppose the December hunt, yet DeSantis-appointed commissioners pushed it through anyway.
The FWC plans to issue permits through a lottery system, charging $100 for Florida residents and $300 for non-residents.
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/1988744783838257517?s=20
Hunters who secured permits through the lottery – more than 163,000 applications were submitted at $5 each – will each be allowed to kill one bear.³
The hunt will use controversial methods including baiting, hunting with dogs, and archery.
Judge Dempsey scheduled the critical hearing for November 24 at 2 p.m. to decide whether to block the December hunt.
"We're either going to win big or we're going to lose big, and there's going to be irreparable harm to the bears," Levy warned.⁶
DeSantis now faces a choice: intervene to stop the hunt his own appointees approved, or let Florida's first bear season in a decade proceed despite overwhelming public opposition and serious constitutional questions about whether it's based on sound science.
¹ James Call, "Protesters to mobilize against Florida bear hunt ahead of court hearing," USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida, November 17, 2025.
² James Call, "Florida bear advocates rally in Tallahassee, call on DeSantis to stop the hunt," USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida, November 17, 2025.
³ "Opponents ask DeSantis to stop the 2025 Florida bear hunt," Creative Loafing Tampa, November 17, 2025.
⁴ "Florida urges judge to toss out bear hunt lawsuit," WUSF, November 16, 2025.
⁵ "State urges judge to toss out lawsuit seeking to prevent Florida bear hunt," CBS Miami, November 14, 2025.
⁶ "Floridians rally at state Capitol to protest black bear hunt," WLRN, November 17, 2025.
