The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission has, at times, been criticized for caring more about politics than wildlife. The commission is run by commissioners appointed by the governor. Whatever its sins in the past, its willingness to help save the Florida Panther will be a big step toward redemption. Please encourage and thank them for this noble work by e-mail, letter, or phone call.FORGET THE CONGRATULATIONS-I WAS MISTAKEN. Though “the FWS has identified four enormous blocks of prime habitat one in the Ozark Mountains, one in the Ouachita Mountains, and two in the southern flatlands. But when panther managers approached the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, they were told to forget it. Deer hunting is really big in Arkansas.
"The commission doesn't have any interest in reintroducing cougars into Arkansas right now," said Blake Sasse, nongame mammal program coordinator with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. "We have the resources to accommodate them, but culturally it's not appropriate for Arkansas right now."
“. . . the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is opposed to the reintroduction of the Florida panther in Arkansas. . . . we have an existing population of Western cougars in Arkansas that would interbreed with any reintroduced Florida panthers.” Commissioner Mike Freeze
"Paul said, `I have contacted the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and they informed me there wasn't any panthers in Arkansas.'"
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Mountain Lion Position Statement
“. . . the Florida panther . . . were historically present throughout Arkansas until their apparent eradication, which occurred by about 1920. . . . it is the position of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission that this subspecies has been eradicated from the state and any mountain lion in the wild in Arkansas is not an endangered Florida panther unless proven otherwise.”
"Note: The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is not currently soliciting information on potential sightings of mountain lions in the state."
Arkansas Game & Fish Commission
2 Natural Resources Drive
Little Rock, Arkansas 72205
(800) 364-4263 ~ (501) 223-6300
www.agfc.com
keoff@futura.net, esn@jlj.com, svarnell@alltel.net, Freddie.black@simmonsfirst.com,
HRCHCasey@aol.com, johnbenjamin@alltel.net, gdunklin@dunklingrain.com, kgsmith@uark.edu
‘South Florida is not big enough,’ Souza said. ‘Recovery of the species will require the panther population to expand to other parts of its historic range.’
The panther once roamed much of the southeastern United States, and scientists have long talked about the importance of establishing new populations elsewhere. . . .
Biologists have identified a number of potential new grounds in Arkansas, Alabama and perhaps most promising, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge along the Florida-Georgia border.
. . . .Panther . . . have never been linked to an attack on humans . . ."
10 comments:
Hmmm...
when there are sooo many deer they a forced INTO the heart of towns
yes, I've seen two slip-sliding across EIGHT St. CRIMONY!!! Guys!
There's so many deer at Pea Ridge they have fawns that are overcome by ticks!!! and worse...
Give me a break, no resources to accomodate them. Tpppppt.
How about 200,000 acres in SE Arkansas?
Yes, deer hunting IS really big in Arkansas, but not even big enough to effectively control the herd we've got.
“culturally it's not appropriate for Arkansas right now." Maybe not in the circles the commissioners run in, but the assumption that the majority of Arkansawyers are as backward as they are is appalling. Many deer hunters, including me, would love to see the panther back.
Cowboys down hear are a dang site tougher than them in Wyoming and they get by ok. Even got a huntin season on um. If we could build up a population, we could bring in a bunch of Yankees for guided hunts. Cris Wall copied our state motto when he did "Plenty of Guns and Sumpthin to Shoot."
The commissioners traditionally are fat cats interested primarily in the honor involved in and the perks provided to the commissioners. These have all been appointed by Mike Huckabee. They will do nothing that smacks of environmental responsibility. The Huckster is running for president, or at least vice president. They will not alienate his base.
This is enough to make me turn in my Game & Fish license plate. Just what the hell am I supporting?!
you nailed it this time virg. keep up the good work.
Thanks Orin. You may be the first to recognize my genius.
Seems we got too many deer now. Maybe the Florida Painter would help the AG&FC do deer population management like they's supposed to. When I was a tyke spending summers in Montgomery County, they was plenty of painter, deer was scarce.
Arkansas DOES NOT need another species of panther one is too many, i do not want to be hunting with my son in the woods and come back and find him eaten alive by a panther, further more it will never pass for them to be put in felsenthal refuge which i live less than 10 miles from. U want to control the deer population talk to AGFC about increasing our limit outside that couldnt tell ya.
No one has been killed by a Florida Panther-ever. Even with established mountain lion populations, there have been less than 20 people killed by them in the last 100 years.The odds of your son being killed in a car wreck caused by a deer or a fellow hunter is hundreds of times greater than being killed by a mountain lion.
Your son would be safer with lions keeping the deer population down and the drunks out of the woods. By the way, is he going to be armed?
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