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FWC Offers Alternative for Getting Your Fish and Wildlife News

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has launched a new way for you to get agency news delivered to your desktop.  Earlier this year, the agency began offering six RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds of its news releases, which cover fishing, hunting, law enforcement, wildlife, Commission meetings and other news. 

RSS is a technology that enables users to distribute and gather Web content, such as news headlines. Instead of visiting FWC's Web site to browse for news releases, the RSS feeds can automatically alert you when something new is posted online. FWC's RSS feeds also provide webmasters the opportunity to integrate agency news into their own sites.

You need a news reader to subscribe to RSS feeds. A wide range of RSS readers are available on the Internet. Some readers are Web-based, while others require you to download a small software program onto your desktop.

You can learn more about RSS and FWC's feeds at MyFWC.com/rss.html.

By Kim Jamerson, FWC

PLBs Help Locate Lost Boaters

As surely as the sun rises and sets, both FWC officers and the U.S. Coast Guard will be called on to locate missing boaters in the Gulf of Mexico. If the missing boaters are lucky they'll be found and reunited with family. In some cases they are lost at sea forever.

While no one plans on the need to be rescued, a device is available that can cut most rescue times to mere hours. The devices are pocket-sized Personal Locater Beacons (PLB) and work to guide searchers to the missing, courtesy of a network of sophisticated weather satellites circling the earth. Use of the PLBs is being pushed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System, or SARSAT.

With more than 950,000 vessels registered in Florida last year and countless visitors plying gulf or Atlantic Ocean waters each week, searches for overdue boaters are an all-too-common occurrence. When searchers have little information about a vessel and literally hundreds of square miles of water to search, it's easy to see why without a PLB a search can be consuming. With a functioning PLB searchers can go straight to a boater.

Federal law requires that PLBs be registered at the time of purchase. That includes the owner's name, address, phone numbers and family contacts—all important information during times of emergency. With 13 million boaters in the United States, most PLBs sold today are for maritime use. They cost starting at about $600 and are battery-powered.  They're smaller and more affordable than the Emergency Beacons, or EPIRBs and Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) that boaters and pilots have had available for years.

All the emergency-activated devices work similarly. Once activated, the beacon's signal is picked up by a satellite and the information is relayed to several ground stations in the United States, which then contact SARSAT mission control in Suitland, Md. From there local search and rescue personnel are contacted.

With the technological leap and affordability of PLBs, it's really amazing why anyone would go offshore without one of these devices     

By Stan Kirkland, FWC

Ocala Outdoor Adventure Camp

The FWC's Outdoor Adventure Camp, at the Ocala Conservation Center, occupies a 57-acre peninsula, rich in history and wildlife on Lake Eaton in the Ocala National Forest.  Facilities are rustic, yet comfortable, with air-conditioned cabins and dining hall.

The Ocala Outdoor Adventure Camp provides campers with the necessary skills and knowledge to become better sportsmen and women, while instilling an awareness of firearm safety and wildlife stewardship.

The camp has conducted action-packed summer adventures for more than 50 years. Boys and girls ages 10 to 15 are invited to attend a one-week camp session running from Sunday through Saturday. Registration is $295 per child. Fees include all camp fees, meals, lodging, equipment and instructional materials. 

For more information, or to register online, visit MyFWC.com/huntered/camp/index.htm or call (352) 625-2804 or e-mail Cardinal.Collins@MyFWC.com.

Easier Application Process for Special Hunts

This summer the FWC will begin accepting applications for quota hunt permits and special-opportunity hunt permits for next year's hunting seasons through its Total Licensing System (TLS). Instead of mailing application forms to Tallahassee, hunters will submit their applications at county tax collectors' offices, license agents or online at MyFWC.com.

Special Opportunity Hunts

Between May 1 and June 15, hunters will be able to submit as many $5 special-opportunity applications as they would like. Application forms will be available at FWC regional offices beginning April 20. After the random drawing is completed, applicants will receive invoices, which they take to any license agent, pay a permit fee by the specified deadline and immediately receive their permit. If the permit fee is paid online, the permit should be delivered within 10 days.

Quota Hunt Permits

Hunters can apply for quota hunt permits from June 1-11. Application forms will be available at tax collectors' offices and FWC regional offices beginning May 15. The forms are necessary to provide license agents with hunt choices, dates and personal information. Once the random drawing has been completed, unissued quota permits will be available on a first-come, first-served basis directly from license agents, county tax collectors' offices and at MyFWC.com.

Other Changes

The TLS system is able to verify each hunter's permits, so applicants do not have to submit stickers, tabs and copies of licenses with their applications. If hunters don't have the proper license or permit, they may purchase one where they apply. There will be a closed period, from June 12-July 31, when no applications will be accepted.

"Handling thousands of paper applications and dealing with numerous telephone complaints from hunters who missed random drawings because the postal service took longer than expected to deliver their applications was cumbersome and inefficient," said Eddie White, FWC's quota hunt coordinator. "We have been issuing licenses and permits through the TLS since 2003, and this is a planned progression to streamline the hunt permit application process."

Maybe They Won't Notice
FIELD OPERATION NOTES FROM THE FWC DIVISION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

Dispatch advised FWC Officer Scott Hoffman that an FHP trooper was at the site of a single-vehicle accident and heard something scratching inside the toolbox of the small pickup. FWC Captain Leroy Alderson and Officer Hoffman arrived on the scene and met with the trooper and the suspect. The suspect climbed into the back of the truck, sat down on the toolbox lid and kicked the truck every time the scratching sound occurred, hoping that no one would hear the noise. When he saw Officer Hoffman walking up, he said "Officer, I'm glad to see you, I have a turtle in my toolbox." Officer Hoffman asked what kind of turtle and the suspect replied, "An illegal one, I think." The toolbox was opened and the suspect was found to be in possession of a gopher tortoise. The suspect was issued the appropriate citation.

Officer Zachary Clark was patrolling a WMA when he spotted sand tracks leading to a remote area where a vehicle was parked. Sounds of someone cutting or moving vegetation led the officer to discover a man crawling along a small trail out of a very thick area. A canvas bag slung over the man's shoulder contained small shovels, potting soil, water jugs and empty planting pots. Officer Clark issued a warning for not having a user fee permit. Additional investigation into the area the man had left revealed four freshly planted cannabis plants. The suspect was contacted the next day, placed under arrest for cultivation of cannabis and transported to jail.

Officer Christopher Mattson charged a Mississippi man with a third-degree felony for possession of an alligator. The live alligator was found inside a suitcase after FHP arrested the man for DUI and conducted a property inventory. The suspect told the officers he found the alligator along the road somewhere between Delray Beach and the Keys and claimed that "Leonard" was his pet. Officer Mattson removed "Leonard's" bandana before releasing the two-foot reptile.

Other Featured Articles:

Director's Message
Tacklin' Tarpon
FWC Update - Imperiled Species Listing Process

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