10846266, 68A-15.065 - Florida Administrative Rules, Law, Code, Register

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Florida Department of State and Division of Library and Information Services

Notice: 10846266

Notice of Proposed Rule

Department:

FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Division:

Freshwater Fish and Wildlife

Chapter:

TYPE I WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS

Overview

RULE:

68A-15.065

Specific Regulations for Wildlife Management Areas - Northeast Region

PURPOSE:

The purpose of the proposed rule amendments is to revise specific area regulations on Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in the Northeast Region and conform to calendar year date changes. The effect of the proposed rule changes will be to enable the agency to better manage fish and wildlife resources and public use on WMAs.

SUMMARY:

The proposed rule amendments would adjust season dates to conform to calendar year changes and revise specific area regulations on Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in the Northeast Region as follows:
Buck Lake WMA – remove the requirement for hunters to check in and check game at the check station.
Bull Creek WMA – clarify that camping at designated campsites on the Florida National Scenic Trail (FNST) is limited to persons hiking through on the FNST.
Charles H. Bronson WMA – change the bag limit for deer from one deer per quota permit to one antlered and one antlerless deer per quota permit during the archery season and two antlered deer per quota permit during the muzzleloading gun and general gun seasons; add a 7-day archery hunt (quota 30; no exemptions); add a 3-day muzzleloading gun hunt (quota 30; no exemptions); and add one day to each spring turkey hunt (change from 3-day hunts to 4-day hunts).
Dunns Creek WMA – remove the requirement for hunters to check in and check game at the check station.
Etoniah Creek WMA – add a 3-day muzzleloading gun hunt (quota 50; no exemptions); add a 4-day general gun hunt and restructure the other two general gun hunts so that each hunt is four days long and runs from Thurs.-Sun. (currently the first hunt runs four days from Sat.-Tues. and the second hunt runs five days from Wed.-Sun.); and add one day to each spring turkey hunt.
Guana River WMA – establish vehicle access hours for all area users during hunting seasons as 5 a.m. until 9 p.m. during Daylight Savings Time and from 5 a.m. until 8 p.m. during Eastern Standard Time, except during the spring turkey hunts when vehicles are allowed only from 5 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Lake George WMA – add a 3-day muzzleloading gun hunt (quota 250; no exemptions); and add one day to each of the three spring turkey hunts (change from 3-day hunts to 4-day hunts).
Lake Panasoffkee WMA – allow camping only on days that vehicle access is allowed.
Lake Tracy Unit WMA – add one day to the general gun season (change from a 3-day season to a 4-day season); add one day to the muzzleloading gun season (change from a 3-day season to a 4-day season); add one day to each archery hunt (change from two 3-day hunts to two 4-day hunts); and add a small game season (three 3-day hunts in January; no quota permit required).
Little Big Econ WMA – add a 7-day archery hunt (quota 20, no exemptions); add a 3-day muzzleloading gun hunt (quota 20, no exemptions); and add one day to each of three 3-day spring turkey hunts.
Matanzas WMA – add a 7-day hunt to the archery season (no quota); add a 3-day hunt to the muzzleloading gun season (quota 30, no exemptions); add a 7-day hunt to the wild hog-still season (quota 50, no exemptions); and add a 4-day hunt to the spring turkey season (quota 15, no exemptions).
Richloam WMA – move the wild-hog dog hunt from weekdays (Tues.-Thurs.) to the weekend (Fri.-Sun.).
Rock Springs WMA – allow wild hog to be hunted during small game season.
Ross Prairie WMA – add a 3-day archery season (quota 10, no exemptions); and add a 3-day spring turkey season (quota 5, no exemptions).
Salt Lake WMA – allow wild hog to be hunted during small game season and clarify that all persons are allowed vehicle access during the hunting seasons.
Seminole Forest WMA – add one day to the first spring turkey hunt (change from a 4-day hunt to a 5-day hunt) and clarify when vehicle access is allowed.
Three Lakes WMA – add two 3-day raccoon hunts (no quota).
Tiger Bay WMA – add one day to each of three spring turkey hunts (change from 3-day to 4-day hunts).
Triple N WMA – allow vehicle access on scout days for special-opportunity spring turkey hunts to start at 5 a.m.
Proposed rule amendment would also amend or clarify language related to the use of guns for taking wildlife. Additionally, the proposed rule amendment would provide non-substantive technical changes, such as grammatical corrections and language standardization.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY:

Article IV, Section 9, Florida Constitution.

LAW:

Article IV, Section 9, Florida Constitution 375.313 FS.

PRINT PUBLISH DATE:

1/6/2012 Vol. 38/01

COMMENTS:

From 1/6/2012 To 1/27/2012 (21 Days)
The public comment period for this notice has already expired.

REFERENCE MATERIALS:

No reference(s).

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