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Agenda 02/09/2010 Item #16K4 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9, 2010 Page 1 of 37 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Recommendation that the Board approve and authorize the Chairman to sign a Youth Hunt Agreement in order to allow the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to eonduct Youth Hunts for full-time and part-time Collier County residents at Pepper Ranch Preserve. OBJECI1VE: To have the Board of County Commissioners (Board) approve and authorize the Chairman to sign a Youth Hunt Agreement in order to allow the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to conduct youth hunts at Pepper Ranch Preserve. CONSIDERATIONS: At its January 12, 20]0 meeting, Agenda Item 10D, the Board directed the County Attorney and County Manager to work with the FWC to coordinate a youth hunt program for full-time and part-time Collier County residents at Pepper Ranch Preserve and to terminate the Cooperative Service Agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for hog trapping. On January 14, 2010, the Board notified USDA ofits termination of the Cooperative Service Agreement. This item is to seek Board approval of the Youth Hunt Agreement. The County Attorney's Office has been working closely with FWC to develop the necessary documents. By entering into the Youth Hunt Agreement with the FWC Commission, the Board will become a volunteer landowner with the Program, thereby allowing the FWC administered youth hunts for full-time and part-time Collier County residents to occur at Pepper Ranch Preserve. Adult volunteers who have successfully passed a criminal background check and are qualified will plan and facilitate the hunts. Participants in the Youth Hunting Program of Florida must: be 12 to 17 years old; complete and submit the Youth Hunting Program of Florida Application; complete the Florida Hunter Safety Program; be accompanied by a parent or guardian; complete a Youth Hunter Application and Marksmanship Certification (Attached as back-up for informational purposes); complete the Unconditional Release of Liability Risks form (Attached as back-up for informational purposes); and submit a refundable deposit to secure position once selected for a youth hunt to insure all youth hunting opportunities are utilized. The Agreement and Unconditional Release of Liability Risks form has been reviewed and approved by the County's Risk Management Department. The first Youth Hunt is expected to Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9.2010 Page 2 of 37 occur on April 16 - 18,2010. Additional Youth Hunts will be scheduled based on community interest. The County Attorney is advised that staff intends to bring to the Board in the near future a Final Management Plan for Pepper Ranch which will include general public hunting as an allowed activity. FWC has previously administered youth hunts where hunting was limited to county residents. FWC advises that such limitation often results in the Youth Hunt not being full. As such, FWC will first accept youths that are Collier County residents and if the hunt is not full it will open the hunt up to non-Collier County residents. Such residency guidelines are referenced in the Youth Hunt Announcement which is Attachment 1 to the Youth Hunt Agreement. FISCAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact associated with this item. GROWTH MANAGEMENT IMPACT: There is no growth management impact associated with this item. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS: The Agreement is the FWC standard form agreement and is legally sufficient-JBW. RECOMMENDATION: That the Board approve and authorize its Chairman to sign a Youth Hunt Agreement in order to allow FWC to conduct Youth Hunts for full-time and part- time Collier County residents at Pepper Ranch Preserve. PREPARED B~nnifer B. White, Assistant County Attorney and Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorne. r Hl.PRM-00160!14 2 Item Number: Item Summary: Meeting Date: Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9, 2010 Page 3 of 37 COLLIER COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS 16K4 Recommendation that the Board approve and authorize the Chairman to sign a Youth Hunt Agreement in order to allow Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to conduct Youth Hunts for full-time and part-time Collier County residents at Pepper Ranch Preserve. 2/9/20109:00:00 AM Date Prepared By Jennifer White County Attorney Assistant County Attorney County Attorney 1/27/20103:33:04 PM Date Approved By Jennifer White County Attorney Assistant County Attorney County Attorney 1/27/20105:02 PM Date Approved By Jeffrey A. Walker, CPCU. ARM Administrative Services Division Director - Risk Management Risk Management 1/28/201012:12 PM Date Approved By Jeff Klatzkow County Attorney 1/29/20103:41 PM Date Approved By OMS Coordinator County Manager's Office Office of Management & Budget 2/1/2010 8:27 AM Date Approved By Laura Davisson County Manager's Office Management & Budget Analyst Office of Management & Budget 2/2/2010 8:34 AM Date Approved By Mark Isackson Office of Management & Budget ManagemenUBudget Analyst, Senior Office of Management & Budget 2/2/20109:03 AM STATE OF FLORIDA COUNTY OF COWER Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9. 2010 Page 4 of 37 YOUTH HUNT AGREEMENT This agreement is made and enteI'lld into by and betwea1 Board of County ColDllliulooen of CoWer COUllty oIb/o Collier County ("Landowner"), and the Florida Flab and WIldBfe Conservatloll COIlllllWiOIl ("Association"). WHEREAS, Landowner and Association have mutual goals 0 f introducing youngsters to the outdoors, furthering the objectives of HUDter Safety by providing aflDnlablc, hands-on experiences, and providing families the opportunities and privileges associated with hunting. NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the perlOnnance of the illlowing conditions, Landowner hereby grants to Association the rigbI: to use the premises known as Pepper RaDch ("Premises'') to oonduct youth outdoor recreation programs. including sponsorship of!lUpCrVised hunting. This grant is subject to the fullowing conditions, which are expressly agreed to by Association and Landowner. 1. Landowner agrees to provide an Association-sponsored activity on the Premises as descnbed at Attachment A. (YHPF Y oulb HWI1 Announcement Fonn) 2. Landowner will allow rcpn:scntatives of the Association to enter onto tbe property to plan, improve and otherwise make provisions fur use under the ta:ms of this Agreement. as long as Landowner is notified in advance of such activities and gives consent. 3. It is expressly understood by Landowner and the Association that the 8clivities descnbed in Attaclunent A are regulated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. and that violations of these laws governing such activities must be brought to the immediate attention 0 f Landowner and Association for review and action. 4. Association will make no alterations to buildings nor constnJcl any improvements without first having obtained the consent of the Landowner. Association will not carry away liom the Premises any wood, plants, rocks or other maleriaL Association will promptly report to Landowner any unauthorized use of the Premises. S. Association agrees to indenmify and hold Landowner. its agents, employees and representatives harmless against any claims of any character of all pel'SO\1S whomsoever which resuh directly or indirectly from the activities descnbed in Attachment A. All participants involved in activities descnbed at Attaclnnent A must sign a waiver and agree to indenmify and hold Association and Landowner, their agents. employees, and represematives barm1ess against any claims of any character of all persons whomsoever which result directly or indirectly liom the activities described in Attachment A. 6. Landowner, and anyone authorized by Landowner. may enter and use the premises at any time fur my purpose. Landowner agrees not to conflict or interfere with the activities described in Attachment A and Association agrees that its activities will not interfere with Landowner's use of the Premises, except as set oUl in Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9, 2010 Page 5 of 37 Attachment A. Landowner agrees to notify Association in advance 0 f any other hunting or other activities taking pW:c on the premises that may present a danga' to human life or health, or that may affect or interfere with the activities described in Attachmcmt A. 7. This Agreement, together with Attachment A, constitutes the only agreement betweal Landowner and the AssociatioD, and supersedes any prior understandings or agreements. No amendment of this Agreement will be 1rinding unless it is in writing and signed by the Landowner and the Association. Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time by written notice delivered to the other at the address set out below. In witness hereof; the undersigned Landowner, and AssociatioD, through its representative, execute this A8r-ncol on the date of the last signature. FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION Diane Roth Eggc:man, Director Division ofHllllting and Game Managemeot ~-;W;;1;) (Signature) 620 South Meridian Street (Address) Ta11ahassee. FL 32399-1600 (City, State, Zip) (850) 488-3831 (Telepoone) ATIEST: DWIGHT E. BROCK, CLERK BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA By: FRED W. COYLE, CHAIRMAN , DEPUTY CLERK ApproV~cy: Jennifer . e Assistant CoUllty Attorney Agenda Item No. 16K4 1m Location of Youth Hunt (NearbyCityrrown and County): ImmolulleelColller County Landowner Contact lnfonnation (Name, Address, Street) Mell... Lynn Henning. 3301 Temleml Trail, Neple. HunbnaSter(s): To .. ....igIHHI... Zip 34112 Number of youtlt hunters: 10 _ .Plll'tlcl....tion I_ limited to full-time end pert-time residents of Collier County unl__ hunt i_ not full' Number of youth hun.ers landowner will supply: Will hunters be camping? 10. 'COLLfERCOUNTYY01JTHONLY' Ve., primitive CIImplng Will you need equipment and/or supplies from Tallahassee office? . Yes 0 No If yes, please describe: Ground BUncIe (10) Full YHPF TRAILER Are there cooking facilities available? .Yes 0 No If yes, please descnbe: No Weter - Electric Lodge. KItchen end BBQ Pit Will you need food or heiI1 making food arrangements? 0 Yes . No Huntmaster is responsible for all food arrangements. Additional comments: County owned property - volunt..,. provided by county Contect: Mell... H. mell..ehennlaCllcollleraov.net (238) 252-2957 . per Colli... Youth Hunting Program of Florida c/o Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 620 South Meridian Street Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600 (850) 413-0084 (850) 413-7989 (fax) MyFWC.com ~:Im.vdoc_~lIul-*fi/elform.slyhpf RfIT. 10105/05 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9. 2010 Page 7 of 37 z , ~-i7\ ! .:;;'" (f~\S \lIaIIIr . I .0, /'1' "-1cldPI moIIoIoIe'I . If,.,p&.._ :r~~ee.; "t-L.- ^.._......r.IIldlalMillblo'l 0 V.. JD No If,.., pI-._ If _ 10 .. kldil.. CO" ....... _ __0._,..._.. _to-.r -......-.........- "\ill v. D N. o Door 0 Ton., .l!(Haa 0"- oDooe 0_0- A/W "".....,..,.............. ......_~..-...,....- ......- 1.,. "- ...- VOOlh H~"""'" or FIorido do _Filllond Wildllfec-.iollC---... ~80ulb___ T.uu..- FL J2)99.lellO (8SO) 413-0084 (~) 413-7919 (fill) MyFWC.eom c.;ly ~~ ~~A ......... .... Jooe Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9.2010 January If~e]@m Item #10D This item to be heard at 2:00 n.m. To provide an update on the Conservation Collier Programs feral hog management activities at Pepper Ranch Preserve and recommend that the Board direct the County Manager, or his designee, to continue with feral hog management as outlined in the Pepper Ranch Preserve Interim Management Plan. (Melissa Hennig, Principal Environmental Specialist, Facilities Management) Motion directing the County Attorney and County Manager to meet with appropriate local representatives to develop and coordinate a program that would allow Collier County residents to hunt at the Pepper Ranch Preserve and to terminate the contract with the USDA Approved - 5/0 MR.OCHS: Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman, and that time-certain item is 10D. It is to provide an update on the Conservation Collier program's feral hog management activities at Pepper Ranch Preserve and recommend that the board direct the county manager or his designee to continue with feral hog management as outlined in the Pepper Ranch Preserve Interim Management Plan. Ms. Melissa Hennig, principal environmental specialist with Conservation Collier facilities management, will present. MS. HENNIG: Thank you. Good afternoon, Commissioners. There's no question that feral hogs exist at Pepper Ranch and that hunting is one tool that we use to manage them. After several public meetings, the Conservation Collier Lands Evaluation and Management Subcommittee agreed that the most prudent course of action to curb feral hog damage at the ranch until a long-term public hunt program and a private hog-trapping program could be established would be to enter into a one-year hog removal contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This course of action was recommended by the full Conservation Collier Committee and approved by the Board of County Commissioners in the Pepper Ranch Interim Management Plan. Page I Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9. 2010 January }>~e2O>1(i}' Staffhas been coordinating with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to develop a public small game hunting area at Pepper Ranch by the fall of this year that will allow licensed hunters to take wild hogs and other small game. Staffhas also been coordinating with the FWC Youth Hunt Program. And although originally it appeared that a youth hunt at the ranch would not take place for some time, a hunt may now be possible as soon as mid March. I will be meeting with the youth hunt coordinator this Friday for a site visit. FWC staff that we have been working with -- and they're present in the room to answer any questions -- are not adverse to the county continuing to trap hogs in concert with hunting; however, in light of the pending youth hunt and the concern brought up over the USDA contract, the trapping at Pepper Ranch has been put on hold awaiting direction from the board. It is important to note that typical feral hog management on public lands in the State of Florida includes a combination of both hunting and trapping. Because Pepper Ranch will be open for multiple uses that provide various recreational opportunities, hunting will need to be limited to specific seasons and dates in order to allow for other recreational uses. Additionally, because listed plant species exist on the ranch and future plans include wetland mitigation, the impact of feral hogs to plant communities and wetlands must be taken into account when considering their management. Yesterday the ConselVation Collier Committee recommended 6-1 to continue the USDA contract after the youth hunt in order to curb feral hog damage in the interim until staff can develop a long-term hunt -- public hunt program and a private trapper program. And we are now here to seek your direction on this recommendation. Page 2 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9. 2010 J anuaryP)J~ OO! & CHAIRMAN COYLE: Okay, thank you. Commissioner Henning? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, not to put any lipstick on this issue. I'm just trying to root out -- around for, you know, really the -- what the real issue is here. What is wrong with allowing residents to go out there and hunt them now, I mean, if you've got more than you can handle? Let's have a shoot-ern-up. MS. HENNIG: That is basically a policy issue. We as a program and as the county we saw that it would be best to work with FWC for our fIrst few hunts before we proceed with a private trap or a private hunting program. But actually, if you'd like, Bob Dorta is here. He's on our committee, and he actually did submit a private hunt program, a plan. The issue would be -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Private hunt program on public lands? MS. HENNIG: Yeah. Well, because we're the county and not FWC, the state, it would be like running our own hunt program, so we would have to put the regulations in place in order to do that. The question is, how quickly can we do that and how much staff resources are you willing to put towards that end? Do we want to enter into a foray of hunting before we have as much experience as we need? What's the risk? These are all things we'd have to discuss. And also, right now we have four staff members managing 18 preserves, so it's entirely up to the direction we receive on whether you want to put staff time to develop a hunt program or wait until the fall to have the hunt program, at what expense to other preserves. That's the only issue. COMMISSIONER HENNING: No. Let's do the hunting tomorrow. The -- I guess there's some health concerns. Is that due to eating pig medium rare? Page 3 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9, 2010 JanuaryFi3~~ 2O>1(}7 MS. HENNIG: There are -- there's a -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah, see? MS. HENNIG: Dr. Colfer's here from the health department, so I'll let her address that issue. COMMISSIONER HENNING: You don't eat pig medium rare. That's simple. Don't eat it that way. DR. COLFER: Madam-- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Unless they have lipstick. DR. COLFER: You switched chairs. You switched chairs? Good afternoon. Members of the board, I'm Dr. Joan Colfer. I'm the director of the Collier County Health Department, and I'm really here, I think, to support the staffs recommendation to do this in some kind of a controlled fashion. Feral hogs in Florida and in other parts of the country do carry a disease called brucellosis. In 2008 there were ten reported cases in Florida, but this is a very underreported disease, and it is directly transmitted from hogs, as well as other animals, usually through cuts on the hands that they may already have or cuts that the trappers and hunters incur when they're dressing out the meat. This is a pretty serious disease when people get it, and we have had two cases here in Collier County. Again, this is underreported. The incubation period is about two to ten weeks but can be up to six months long, so it tends to be difficult to diagnosis in people. They may not even remember anything about the hogs but then show up in an emergency room weeks or even months later. The symptoms can be nonspecific, a lot like the flu without the respiratory component. They have fever, chills, just feel bad, malaise, sweating, muscle and joint pain, headache, loss of appetite, to the extent the one case had a 30-pound weight loss, and fatigue. The complications can be endocarditis. Rarely people do die. But 20 to 60 percent of people end up with bone and joint Page 4 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9, 2010 JanuaryP}!~1 rot ~ complications. It takes six weeks of antibiotics to treat this disease. I think if you are going to do a hunting program, I think: you need to do this in a controlled fashion. I think you need some guidelines as far as -- I read about the program -- !think Mr. Coletta had brought up bringing a young person along with an older person to teach them about hunting and how to dress out the animal. I think that needs to be a legally responsible adult, not just some 18-year-old that they -- that they know. And they do need to wear groves. They need to wear eye protection when they're dressing out these animals. I think: if you're going to do it on public lands, you need to make sure that that happens. And they really need to take great care in what happens with the carcass. I think the recommendation is that you bury and/or burn the carcass, and also the same with the bloody clothing after they've dressed out these animals. There is a case where a gentleman got the disease himself, and then his wife also got it, and the thought is that she probably got it from washing the bloody -- washing and handling the bloody clothes. Even the people that are preparing the meat -- this is how contagious this is -- they need to wear gloves when they're handling this meat. You have to think about other things that people eat, like hamburger that has E. coli in it, we don't recommend that people have to wear gloves when they're handling the hamburger, for heaven sakes. So this is a product that I think we have to have some concern over if we're going to -- if we're going to do a hunting program and let kids handle this meat. And I'll be happy to answer questions. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Commissioner Coletta? COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yes. I wasn't going to direct too many questions to you, but I'd be happy to. Page 5 Agenda Item No. 16K4 Janu~~~ ~dm There's always an inherent risk with just about anything that we-- DR. COLFER: Sure, sure. COMMISSIONER COLEITA: -- get involved with, especially when it's an outdoor sport. And as you mentioned, too, I mean, even eating domestic meat, such as beef, can have E. coli in it. There's all sorts of pesticides that may have got into different farm animals along the way. These are things that in nature happen as a regular event. You can go into the woods and you can get tick fever. This is very prevalent in a number of the states throughout the eastern part of the county . So there are inherent risks. And you're right, people have to be aware of what these risks are. And I don't think: that we would have any problems, especially if the Fish and Wildlife, State Fish and Wildlife is monitoring these hunts. So you have a person on the premise that makes sure that everybody's signed in, they go to the right locations, before they leave they have to sign back out again and they make a report of everything that they've seen and any game that they harvested. There's strict rules as far as how the animal is handled, as far as how it's gutted and what happens to the remains of it. And it's one of those things that's the American tradition. But like anything, you have to exercise due precautions. I have total confidence in the Fish and Wildlife handling hunts like this. They've been doing it on a regular basis, and it's a great way to introduce our youth to the tremendous American sport of hunting. Now -- and I appreciate you bringing this issue up about the possible dangers, and it's something we have to be aware of; however, there are a number of people here to speak today, and I think: we need to give them a chance to speak, and then at that point in time, I'd like to be able to make some comments and some suggestions at what we could do from there, if the chair would so wish. Page 6 Agenda Item No. 16K4 Janu~~~ adi~ CHAIRMAN COYLE: The speaking will be fme, but I don't know about your comments. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I'll take my chances. CHAIRMAN COYLE: How many speakers do we have? MS. FILSON: Eleven. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Okay. Let's get them started. MS. FILSON: Bob Dorta. He'll be followed by Phil Rosenbach. MR. DORTA: Good afternoon, Commissioners. We met earlier today. I'm going to switch hats right now. I'm a member of the Conservation Collier Committee, and I'm proud to serve on it. I, indeed, did submit a hunt proposal. There's a multitude of issues that I'd like to address, but I know the limited time and I know we have other public speakers. I won't do it. The first thing I ask is to consider letting the county take control of the hunting program, much like Manatee County did with Duette Park. I think you can charge certain fees for it. I think we can derive some benefit from it. I was the lone dissenting vote on the plan, as Melissa spoke about. I am against USDA trapping. I don't think it is the most efficient tool. It is a tool, but I don't necessarily agree that it's the most efficient, nor do I necessarily agree that the youth hunt is the most efficient. I think Conservation Collier bought the land under conservation premises. And I think if we're, indeed, going to do conservation and land management and resource management, youth hunt -- and me, I'm an avid outdoorsman, and it's hard for me to look at things, but I'm learning. This land was not purchased for recreation. It was not purchased with recreation dollars. It was purchased with conservation dollars, and I respect that. So what I would propose -- and in my plan it talks about allowing Page 7 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February U.ol0 January~~ J:>VlIUl the hunters, the people who bought the hand, the county taxpayers, enjoy it, and submit -- and we can derive fees, much like Manatee County did via the Duette Park program., and I think -- and Melissa, I know she's done a lot of work on this -- we can start a hunt quickly and with some manpower. And I know there are civic groups out there that would help us with the manpower requirements. And I encourage you to if -- you know, again, in the interest of time, my plan I know is on the website. Y oulre certainly welcome to hack on it. It is just a draft. And I'm here just in support of Conservation Collier. And if you have any questions with any of my thoughts or ideas, I'd be happy to address them. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Okay. Commissioner Halas? COMMISSIONER HALAS: This is directed to the county attorney. The plan that Bob basically laid out here, which is very brief, what kind of liabilities do we put the county in, or do you have to have enough time to figure out -- MR. KLATZKOW: I haven't really seen his plan, to be honest with you. I mean, I've heard a lot of different ideas thrown around the last few days, which is why I've always said, let's wait till we get direction from the board before we start hunting. COMMISSIONER HALAS: Okay. Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Okay. Thank you, Bob. Next speaker? MS. FILSON: Next speaker is Phil Rosenbach. He'll be followed by Rick Varela. MR. ROSENBACH: Good afternoon. My name's Phil Rosenbach, and I am in support of a youth hunt. I've been a bow hunter for almost 50 years. I was secretary/treasurer of the Illinois Bow Hunters Society for 22 years, and I currently am a member of the Florida Traditional Bow Hunters. Page 8 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9. 2010 January~~~ J!-<:)Jl1l/1 In the State of Illinois, we had some of the problems that was brought up a minute ago about getting disease and so forth. We have a lime disease problem in Illinois. But to combat that, we taught all of the people that were doing the hunting to wear gloves and do the things that were recommended earlier, that when they brought an animal in, they would check the animal out, make sure -- test it, make sure that there wasn't any problem with it. If this legislation is passed, with my expertise in hunting, I would be more than glad to volunteer my services to participate with organizing the hunt and instructing youth how to go about hunting for these hogs, and I appreciate the time you've given me. Thank you very much. MS. FILSON: Rick Varela. He'll be followed by Brian McMahon. MR. VARELA: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak. I'm just here to essentially voice my support that the county allow a youth management program for the taking of these hogs. I think it's a better use of public lands. After all, public lands are for the public to use. This will essentially open up an opportunity to the citizens of the county and at the same time help the county containing some of the costs. And I also make myself available to help the youth hunters to go out there; be more than happy to give any of my personal time to make sure this is a success. Thank you very much. MS. FILSON: Brian McMahon. He'll be followed by Marco Espinar. MR. McMAHON: Good afternoon. My name's Brian McMahon. I read the article I guess in the Daily News about a week and a Page 9 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9,2010 Januaryfi,i~ 00,1\17 half ago where they were just going to use the USDA to eradicate the hogs or trap them. And I called Mr. Collins here from the FWC, and in a very short period of time they've come up and tried to organize this youth hunt. I would certainly hope that we would do that. There probably could be other opportunities down the road as far as with mobility impaired and wounded warrior programs that I've heard about. But I think we need to start somewhere until the management plan gets developed. The FWC is, you know, well-versed in operating these. They do them in Hendry County at the Dinner Island Ranch and several other places around. I would certainly hope that we would take the Conservation Collier land and make the interim management plan reflect what the Conservation Collier program is all about, which included fishing and hunting. Thank you very much. MS. FILSON: Marco Espinar. He'll be followed by Jeremy Butts. MR. ESPINAR: Good afternoon, Commissioners. For the record, Marco Espinar, Collier Environmental Consultants. I'm an ex-board member of Conservation Collier, and I'm a local biologist. When we bought Pepper Ranch, one of the uses for Pepper Ranch was hunting, and that's what we sold it at. And as a board member, I was very adamant that hunting was a main component of this. As a biologist, I recognize hogs are a serious ecological problem to our ecosystems. That is undeniable. What I do have an issue with is starting with a trapping program without even knowing what the population of hogs is out there. Are there hogs out there? Of course there are. You know, as -- there's been hogs in San Carlos Park. I mean, they're -- they could be almost anywhere, but we don't know what the Page 10 Agenda Item No. 16K4 J Feb\LJ.iiry 2~2Jl;l.0 anuary~5' tlU:f\17 numbers are. So to start a trapping program without knowing what the population, or if it's an issue, is a little premature. I do recommend that we start with a hunt, whether it's individuals or a youth hunt. And you've got enormous amount of talented hunters and experience out there in our community. I personally will also volunteer, as numerous other individuals here have said that they will volunteer to help people. As far as brucellosis goes, I've been hunting for over 30 years. My experience, I think. there's been more salmonella incidences in our local restaurants than there are with brucellosis, okay. And, I mean, with proper butchering, I have -- case in point, especially with the economy the way it is, I am a very avid hunter. I give away a lot of meat to my neighbors, friends, family. In fact, every year I hold a party in my ranch and I serve wild game meats, okay. We have never had an instance of any problems. With that, I'll open it to any questions. No? MS. FILSON: Jeremy-- COMMISSIONER HENNING: No, no. I'll wait till after the speakers. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Okay. MS. FILSON: Jeremy Butts. He'll be followed by Kirk Fernald. MR. BUrrS: Hello. My name is Jeremy Butts. I'm the South Florida District supervisor for USDA Wildlife Services. I'm basically here to answer any questions that the county may have for us. I will say that we do animal damage control for many other counties, such as Palm Beach County, Lake County, Columbia County, many other state parks, WMAs, and federal lands, and we're really here just to help the county in any way we can. Whatever, you know, you decide, that is fine. We're just here to help the county with whatever animal damage control issues you need. We do do this quite often, and this is, you know, not a problem Page 11 Agenda Item No. 16K4 JanuarYb'~29@ii(i~ whatsoever. If there's anything we can do, if a youth hunt would like to be held, we have no problem, you know, holding off, just like we're doing now, until the county decides how they want to settle this matter. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Thank you. MR. BUTTS: Any questions? COMMISSIONER HALAS: I have a question. If! could just ask -- CHAIRMAN COYLE: Hold on just a second. COMMISSIONER HALAS: I have a question for you. MR. BUTTS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HALAS: I love wild hog, and I just wonder, if we do institute something like this, and if somebody that basically doesn't go out and hunt but yet would like to partake of the meat, is there a possibility that some ofthis wild hog could either be a wild hog roast, or could you give this to individuals so that -- and along with cooking instructions so that they didn't endanger theirselves or their family? MR. BUTTS: What we do is, we can donate the meat. There's no federal provision that says we cannot. There's not a state provision. We would donate it back to the county basically to do with as the county sees -- you know, the county would have to, you know, do the processing and handle all that. But if they designate a facility to us, we have no problem in taking the meat to a place that the county has designated and having it -- you know, and having it processed or donated. COMMISSIONER HALAS: Well, I don't want to -- I don't want to burden the county by saying they're going to recommend a slaughterhouse. I think that should be up to the individual who shoots the hog and the individual that wants the meat require -- meat so that the person that ends up with the product ends up paying the cost of getting it processed. Page 12 Agenda Item No. 16K4 JanuJy~~M~ MR. BUTIS: Well, that will definitely -- I mean, we would only be able to donate it back to the county. I can't just take it down the street and just drop it off somewhere. I have to designate it somewhere the county chooses of. And we do not clean the animals ourselves. COMMISSIONER HALAS: Well, no. But what I'm saying is that whoever the hunter is -- and if -- let's say I ask you, hey, if you go out and get a hog, I've got a deep freeze that I'd like to have the hog in and you don't want the hog but you want to go out and hunt for the hog and you shoot the hog, and you say, okay, where you want this meat processed, then that's up to me to figure out where I want the meat processed and pay the cost of that so I can put it in my deep freeze. MR. BUTTS: Right. That -- and that -- if the county wanted to start a list of people for that, yes. I mean, we wouldn't run into these people out there on the property generally anyways. But if the county would want to start a list for that, like I say, we have no problem with donating to whoever the county designates us to donate to. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Commissioner Coletta? COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Yeah. A little misinformation we received earlier was that there was no options, that when you trap the hogs, the hogs were killed and disposed in the landfill and there was no other option. So I'm hearing now that that -- not that I'd go for this option. I still like the idea of the youth hunts and everything else. MR. BUTTS: Sure. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: But you're saying that if you trap the hogs, they're live when you trap them, they still remain live. If-- these hogs, if somebody wanted to -- if we said, okay, fine, these hogs can be given to such and such, those people could take them and put them into the food chain however they so determined rather than -- well, of course, not sell them, but it would be up to them, right? MR. BUTTS: Yes. Being that -- as the county being the cooperator, yes, we could give it back to the county to do with -- Page 13 Agenda Item No. 16K4 FebJu,\!ry 1l~2jJ10 JanuaryFl'l4y ztbIl17 COMMISSIONER COLETTA: So that was some misinformation that we had. MR. BUITS: Generally we do recommend against it just because of, you know, the liability issues with the diseases and things of that nature, but we can do it. We can give it back to the county. COMMISSIONER COLEITA: Now, a couple of quick questions, if! may, sir. Your knowledge of this situation is very valuable, and we do value it and would like to be able to see if all the options we can ever look at is going to be as complete as possible. MR. BUITS: Sure. COMMISSIONER COLEITA: Especially to protect the resources such as we're talking about. Is -- would you charge a fee to be able to off -- to be -- as a consultant to be able to see how we're doing, maybe to evaluate what was taking place, or is this something you could do as a matter of course as your job description? MR. BUTTS: To evaluate what aspects? COMMISSIONER COLEITA: In other words, if we put together a youth hunt to be followed by maybe a general hunt and maybe even allowing private individuals that have the right equipment to trap hogs. And I know they do it on other properties. They take those hogs back; usually they have a farm someplace and they'll fatten them up and then use them for their own personal use or give them away. Would you -- might be -- you might be a consultant in this type of an endeavor? MR. BUITS: Possibly. This would be something new that we haven't done before, to be honest with you, that we haven't entered into COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well-- MR. BUITS: -- that kind of, you know, situation. COMMISSIONER COLEITA: Yeah, and I respect what you do. And what I'm trying to do is trying to maximize the resource out there Page 14 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9, 2010 January~~W>I@7 to the people that actually own the land. I think you heard many people say, public lands owned by the public out there. So I appreciate your time here today. Thank you. MR. BUrrS: Yes, sir. No problem. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Commissioner Henning and Commissioner Halas, did you want to speak now or you want to wait until after all the speakers? COMMISSIONER HENNING: I'll wait till after the speakers. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Okay. MS. FILSON: The next speaker is Kirk Fernald. He'll be followed by Mike Sorrell. MR. FERNALD: Hi. I'm Kirk Fernald. I'm definitely for the youth hunting. There's plenty of different things that can be used out there. I'm a member, life member ofNRA. I'm a fIrearms instructor. I'm also disabled. So this is something to where I can go out and spend time and teach the youth, you know, show them proper ways to clean, wearing gloves and such. It's kind of like fIshing. You get mercury poison from eating the fIsh out of our canals. So what's the difference on -- you know, either way you're taking a risk. It's all in learning how to do it properly, and I'm more than happy to step up and take my time and stand out there and help people. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Thank you. MS. FILSON: Mike Sorrell. He'll be followed by -- Dr. Colfer, do you wish to speak again? COMMISSIONER KOLFLAT: No. MS. FILSON: Okay. He'll be followed by Wayne Jenkins. MR. SORRELL: Good afternoon, Commissioners. I'd like to apologize for my appearance. I just left work to make it to the meeting Page 15 Agenda Item No. 16K4 Febr~ary 9..2910 J anuaryPllw; WI:O" today. There was a couple things brought up, one, about the disease. Two weeks ago there was an article in the Fort Myers News-Press. It was Frank Mann, our senator, used-to-be senator, was talking about the hog situation, and there they quoted that there'd been four cases of brucellosis in the State of Florida that was attributed to actual feral hogs; not what we'd heard before. I've been hunting since I was five or six years old. I prefer to harvest a wild animal as to go to the store and pay to have something that's been eradiated. I'm not worried about brucellosis. I do take precautions. Game and Fish has huge posters that they post at all their hunting areas. When you check in it tells you what to do, what not to do. In some situations with deer, you can donate part of the spinal cord to check for conic waste, and so that's an issue that's already been addressed. I have two daughters of my own, one's 13, one's 11. My l3-year-old took her first hog at Dinner Island Ranch in Hendry County on the first youth hunt. I have yet since then not been able to draw it, so I'm defmitely interested in being able to, in my own county, go out and take my other, now, who is 11, who's old enough to hunt, and show her the ways of the woods. And you guys have it in your capability today to see that that comes about. And I'd like to thank you for your time. MS. FILSON: Wayne Jenkins. He'll be followed by Wes Seitz and Chuck -- I can't read Chuck's last name. MR. JENKINS: Mr. Collins. Good afternoon. My name is Wayne Jenkins. I think most of you know me. You gave me the privilege of serving on the Conservation Collier Advisory Committee for six years. And I can tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed serving, and I guess probably the highlights of the properties we looked at is when Page 16 Agenda Item No. 16K4 JanuaiYb~t~ :m~M! Pepper Ranch became available. I'm also president of the Collier Sportsmen and Conservation Club. We're a local hunting organization. And as Marco's mentioned earlier, we served on the committee together. We're both hunters, and we were very enthused about the idea of fmally getting a piece of property big enough that we could allow hunting on. I would like to tell you that I am -- my organization is affiliated with the Everglades Coordinating Council, and we have affiliates over in the Palm Beach area that have been conducting these youth hunts, and we will be very happy to assist with this also, along with all the other volunteers here that are willing to. You have a ready resource of people that want to help. One other thing I'd like to kind of remind you of that I don't know if you've thought about. Since the Pepper Ranch has been acquired-- there used to be active ranching on it, there was cattle, there were people out there, there was hunting. All that has ceased, and with that happening, your hog population has moved in. Now, when you start having some activities out there, stirring up people -- or on the property a little bit, you're going to kind of bring back the wildness in these hogs, and they're going to move back. So you have a hog problem. But by having presence of people there, it's going to help you some in getting rid of the amount. You may not have to get rid of 200 hogs at one time if you kill off a dozen or so and the rest of them are kind of spooked and move around. They're not going to be there, laying there every day waiting to get up in the morning and start rooting it again. So that's just one observation I'd like to make to you. And in closing, I'd just like to say that the next two gentlemen coming up are from the FWC, and they have quite a bit of knowledge of, and they have participated in youth hunts, so I would just refer to -- I hope you will pick their brains on it before they get away from us Page 17 Agenda Item No. 16K4 FebruarY 9,2010 J anual)f'4!2i,21@Il:G today. Thank you. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Thank you. MS. FILSON: Wes Seitz and Chuck. You're both on here together. MR. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners. My name's Chuck Collins. I'm the regional director for the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission here in South Florida. And I want to thank you for inviting us here to answer any questions. This -- we look at this as a win-win-win-win type opportunity both for the environment, for the county, for the FWC, and for the people of Collier County. We're here to answer questions, and like any good bureaucrat, I've brought Wes Seitz, who's my hunting and game management person who is really the expert at this. My job is just to be here and say thanks. MR. SEITZ: Commissioners, thank you for having us here today. I'm Wes Seitz, public hunt area (sic) as coordinator for the south region. And I'm really here today to -- I can give you a little bit of an overview of the youth hunting program. It's a newer program that has been started in the last few years. I'm not actually the person that runs this program. I primarily deal with public hunt lands. This is a program that's spearheaded by Gene Newman, who will be coming to meet with Conservation Collier employees later on this week, and so he's kind of the person that knows all the nitty-gritty, but I can give you a little bit of an overview of that. It's not -- this is going to be something that happen on this area that would be a private hunt that's basically -- it's not us opening this hunt up to the public. It's your choice who gets to hunt, how it occurs, what volunteers get to participate, how it operates, when it operates. It's entirely up to you, and Gene Newman will be happy to work with you in any way that he can. But we do have some -- you know, it is a youth program. You Page 18 Agenda Item No. 16K4 Januaif~~~m have to be 12 to 17 to participate. All participants are required to have gone through hunters safety, no matter what their age. And there are a few other programmatic things that we have in place to kind of make sure that it works smoothly. That being said, any question you have about what you want to do with this area, we're happy to assist in any way that we can. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Commissioner Coletta? COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Sir? Yeah. Appreciate you being here today. This youth hunt that we're talking about -- and we've had one gentleman come up and was talking about the county handling this himself. I'm a little bit leery about that because our expertise doesn't go far enough to be able to put the final parts together, and there's also rules and regulations that have to be followed. The state will always trump us when it comes to any kind of rules that are made for this. Do you charge a fee for this? MR. SEITZ: No, sir, we do not. We do have -- there is a deposit that we do require from all applicants. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: That's the $50? MR. SEITZ: And that's to get them -- that the people that sign up for the program, or -- whether it's a random draw or it's picked and choosed (sic) who gets to participate, we do require that deposit to ensure that people show up. Once they show up, it's reimbursed to them. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Oh, I see. So in other words, you don't have people just reserving X number of spots, never showing up, and then it ruins it for anyone else? MR. SEITZ: Correct. We have the deposit in place to ensure participation. We want the volunteers' time to be appreciated, and we don't want the efforts to go to waste. We want to make sure that everyone that signs up for it does show up and participate. Page 19 Agenda Item No. 16K4 Febru~ry fl, 191 0 JanuaryP~~?l\\lIJ.~ COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Well, it sounds like you're not going to be at a loss for volunteers from what I've seen in this room today. MR. SEITZ: Certainly. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And some very qualified people, too. MR. SEITZ: And as Wayne Jenkins mentioned, this is a program that we've worked with other stakeholder groups in Palm Beach County and Hendry County on. Wodes very well. And it is volunteer driven. We handle lodging, some of the food. Some of the food is donated by volunteers as well, but we handle a lot of the nuts and bolts of it; but the people, it's all volunteer. And the land is all volunteered. So whether it's county, an agency like -- such as yourself or a private landowner, we can conduct these youth hunts pretty much anywhere. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Right. MR. SEITZ: Anywhere that they will have us. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And, you know the structure, and I assume that what you do is you have someone, either yourself or someone else, on site during the days the hunting takes place? MR. SEITZ: Correct. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And the people are assigned different places to go. They have to check back out through the station. Anything that they've seen or whatever they have to report. Anything they killed has to be documented. MR. SEITZ: Correct. It's not -- it's not just a hunt. We view it as an opportunity to educate the youth, show them the hunting heritage here in Florida, show them how to hunt properly, how to hunt ethically, how to process animals, show them what to look for, and appreciate wildlife. And there are hunter masters, and we do -- you know, we do use the resources of volunteers and experts like Wayne Page 20 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9, 2010 Januarf'l>1!,22(1ro Jenkins and other sportsmen that are available as well. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: And some residents out there that were less familiar with the hunting culture have expressed concern over the safety of the children that would be involved in this. I mean, there isn't -- I don't ever recall any kind of youth hunts having any disastrous results. I mean, it's extremely rare under the kind of supervision it has. MR. SEITZ: This is, in fact, is even more controlled than some of the youth hunts and family hunts that we have on our wildlife management areas. As you mayor may not know, youth under the age of 16 are not required to have undergone safety. They do have to hunt with someone that is experienced. When they reach the age of 16, they do have to go through hunters safety. This program requires all participants, no matter what their age, to have taken the hunter's safety course. So not only are there experienced individuals on hand to show them the ropes, but the children will have already gone through a hunter's safety program and know, you know, kind of the rules of hunting ethically. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you very much. MR. SEITZ: Thank you. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Okay. Commissioner Henning? COMMISSIONER HENNING: .~i\"U 1U~~m~jii7~~~ flf~l1m ~- L.1 h n wll....h out:>ldon'twantto hm1t 1t to youth.'we:"cill said that these lands, and particularly this land, will be available to hunters. We have a problem with hogs. Why not let the taxpayers go out there and shoot them up, you know, and bring something back, you know, on how to make that happen. But I also want the taxpayers of Collier County to get an opportunity, not just -- not just the youth in the area. After all, it is Page 21 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9, 2010 J anuary'i\1!i, 21@1J.:O- their money -- it is their land, right? CHAIRMAN COYLE: It is. Commissioner Halas, did you -- COMMISSIONER HALAS: I'm all done. CHAIRMAN COYLE: You're all finished, huh? COMMISSIONER COLEIT A: Did we hear from all the speakers? CHAIRMAN COYLE: Yes, we've heard from all the speakers. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Okay, if! may. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Not yet, not yet. My light's on now. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I don't see it. CHAIRMAN COYLE: That's because there is no light for me. My light comes on anytime I say it comes on. MR. SEITZ: Commissioners, if! may, I did want to mention that we are working with Conservation Collier too, not -- this is something that we want to -- that we can do right away. This program can be put in place because it doesn't require due process, it doesn't require having public hearings or any of that. But we are working with Conservation Collier and the county to develop -- open this up as a public hunting area and an opportunity. One of the things we can do to start out is open it as a public small-game hunting area. That's something that doesn't -- is not required to go through our rule-making process, something that can be done very quickly, and something, in talking with Conservation Collier employees, is kind of a proposed start date of this fall when the normal small-game hunting -- statewide small-game hunting season would begin, and that would provide the opportunity for all of the people in Collier County to participate. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Okay. I don't hear any objection from anybody about having a youth hunting program for this land. So I would suggest we quit talking about it and just give direction to the Page 22 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9, 2010 JanuaryP~~, :J!(9lU county attorney. The only issue is to work out an acceptable legal ../"" agreement here so that the county doesn't create any unacceptable e: liability associated with this. So why don't we just direct the county attorney to get with the representative of the Fish and Wildlife Service and others as necessary, develop the appropriate agreement, and let's do it. Does anybody object to that? COMMISSIONER COLETTA: No, not at all. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Nope. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: But I've got a comment. C= COYL.f: : GOOd... You always hav. e comments. CO IONER~LETT^' When you're through. Huny up. CHAI. COYLE: That's 'my motion, is .6, let's get it dene. Let's put ~.rounty attorney on it and make sure that we have a clear understtJttin.g of~t the resp,onsibilities anc1liabilities are, and let's ~~. , ~ COMMISSIONER HALAS: Second. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Okay. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Thank you. I appreciate that. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Okay. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Also, too, let's talk about this just for a minute. Who's the people that purchased this land? It was the residents of Collier County. I'd like to see due consideration given to limit it to the residents of Collier County. They're the ones that paid for it. Also, too, you know, the youth hunt would be just a start, but I think we also have to give directions so there's no misunderstanding that at this point in time we do not want the USDA trapping the animals, that that's something that will be considered at a later date. It can't be controlled through normal hunting. I don't know if that was explicit in the direction. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Well, yeah, yeah. As far as I'm Page 23 Agenda Item No. 16K4 FebrjJ~ry il...;zfl0 Januaryp~ ID at concerned, we've decided that we're going to have hunts to control the population rather than trapping. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: That's correct, but I just wanted to make sure we got that. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Yeah, okay. All right. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Just a question. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Yes, Commissioner Henning. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Is there going to be a subsequent J motion for direction such as you've heard on the dais of letting the Collier County citizens go in there and hunt? CHAIRMAN COYLE: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. I'm ready to vote. CHAI~CQ.YLE: Oka~. And ~st to s~e, we're directing tlle ~ounty attorney ;:wci p ~Q!!!l manager J9Alegotiate with the appr '.. . to blish a outh hunt that will p . only Collier Coun residents to hunt in the area. Was there any ot er stipulation that we wanted to have? Okay. And the second was Commissioner Halas. All in favor of the motion, please signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. COMMISSIONER HALAS: Aye. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Aye. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Aye. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Any opposed, by like sign? (No response.) CHAIRMAN COYLE: It passes unanimously. And yes, Jeff. MR. KLATZKOW: Just to clean up the matter, because we are under contract with the USDA, and I've got to give them 30 days' notice to terminate. Is it the will of the board to terminate this Page 24 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9 2010 January fl<Wl"1ildr07 agreement? COMMISSIONER HALAS: Yes. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: Absolutely. MR. KLATZKOW: Then we will send out the notice. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Yes, thank you. Commissioner Henning, go ahead. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I'd also like to direct staff to develop a general hunt for the Collier County citizens to go on the Pepper Ranch to make an animal control -- our animal -- different animal control department. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Different animal? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yes. And let's figure out how we can develop marketing that -- not marketing it, but letting the public be aware of it, so -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Was that a motion? COMMISSIONER HENNING: It's direction. COMMISSIONER COLETTA: I think that -- go ahead. I think you -- we can explain it's already underway. MS. HENNIG: We are developing a public hunt program, but it won't be in place with -- under FWC until the fall. The other option would be to have county staff develop a program only for the county, not working with FWC. COMMISSIONER HENNING: And only for the county? MS. HENNIG: I mean -- yeah, a county hunt program. Collier County hunt program as opposed to working with FWC and using their expertise to run a hunt program. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Well, can they do it for the Collier County citizens or just the general public? COMMISSIONER COLETTA: He stated he could do it for whatever we wanted. MR. SEITZ: If we were to work with you to open up a public Page 25 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9",,~91 0 January J1~1' 2-m-()7 /- small-game hunting area, it would be for the public, not just for Collier County citizens. But perhaps what -- and what I've talked with them in the past is that I understand there is a desire to -- perhaps this would be something that Collier County would take ownership of. But staff that I've talked to felt uncomfortable -- weren't sure how to put that into place. We could always enter into an agreement that we get the ball rolling. It would be a five-year agreement. After that's over, or however long -- and after that's over, we'd kind of basically give you all the tools you need to go start running your own hunt and running the property any way that you see fit with your own staff, your own rules and regulations, outside of, you know, state regs. or rules specific to wildlife management hearings. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I think it's underway. My concern is relief. The only concern I have is, how do we give back to the taxpayers that are paying for this property? And years is a little bit too long. County Manager, I'd like to see something real short. Maybe -- I mean., there's plenty of organizations out there that can take this and run with it. Staff doesn't necessarily have to do it. MR.OCHS: We'll get with those groups, sir, and see if we can put something back together more quickly and get it back to the board. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Is there any possibility of establishing a resident priority with respect to a hunt? MR. OCHS: I think that's the direction I'm hearing. COMMISSIONER HENNING: That's what the -- it's a question. MR. SEITZ: No. We-- CHAIRMAN COYLE: Can't do that. MR. SEITZ: We would not be able to do that. CHAIRMAN COYLE: All right, thank you. Commissioner Fiala? Page 26 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9. 2010 January f~~~()l7 COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. Maybe I missed something here. Aren't people just allowed to go out there and hunt right now? COMMISSIONER HENNING: No. COMMISSIONER FIALA: They have to have permission in order to do that? CHAIRMAN COYLE: Yeah. Okay. Now, Commissioner Henning had made a supplementary request to provide additional guidance to the staff. COMMISSIONER HENNING: And the county manager already stated that they were going to get on it. CHAIRMAN COYLE: So it's underway. MR.OCHS: Yes, sir. Well, it's not underway, but it will be. What I'm -- just for a point of clarification, what I'm hearing is that the board would like us to work with some of the local organizations to just develop a hunting program separate and distinct from the FWC program that might be allowed to give some preference to county residents which the FWC program isn't able to do right now. CHAIRMAN COYLE: Okay, I would agree with that. Do I have three nods? Okay. All right. Let's do it. Good. Now we're going to take a break. We're 10 minutes overdue. So we'll take a ten-minute break. We'll be back here at 3:05. Page 27 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9, 2010 no.. t~. yoath h.ve .oy prevlo.. exporte... I. hullag? Ify... .boat how muy time.? _ W..t type of ga_ Is t~. y.atlllat.reotod 10 ..011_.1' (YOII may check more than one) W..t Idod of hontlog Is tb. yootlllaterestod la? ou m check more tllan one J,flf'- First ".~i,!Dr il iii4ini'i"tl": Tiii~! "1' .'iri!f8$~#:;~iiji;;j~~:i.!,~:{ Middle ReJ.tionship to Vou1h Hunter State Zip County liill! :~\~!i ',li.i!:( .W !i ! 111!~'i jj~iw.!' ")', " i ! -'f:<IiiJrl:'hi;i!~!!1Rm!!W i l~i' -: ~"', i~7~~'t!!P.'..s-~:= ~~;;'~~~~==_~~lt ~ J;;l.\~;i!!H:ij]~!i!i)f"~iiiHm!JWi!i!Fil;J~H!~l: J~!!iij. [ii~!1'f{ U!i",. "!''''~nii !I, """'!i Summarize: Ifye.. please explain: "("lU--1"-:~";~~'",;'_~~-"""'illI~r~~'ftQItJtI1lJ!._ t~""l!l!';!''''''~ i! ii' If yes, please explain: !!iliL~j!g~~!ilir"_~~ H!!H Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Hunter Safety and Public Shooting Ranges Section 620 South Meridian Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600 (850) 413-0084/0085 (850) 413-7989 (tax) MyFWC.com Rn. fJlJflO()9 Agenda Item No. 16K4 February 9, 2010 Page 36 of 37 1m . The responsible pursu~ of hunting involves many ethical considerations. A few of these are as follows: Being familiar with the fireann or bow to facilitate lis proper and safe use. Being confident with the use of the fireann or bow to enable an enjoyable hunt. Being able to avoid a poorly placed shot and its consequences. In order to further these and other considerations, the following three rules have been established: 1. Each participant (youth hunter) selected for a YHPF youth hunt Is required to practice with the firearm or bow, intended to be used on the youth hunt, within 14 days Drlor to the youth hunt. This practice may be accomplished over a period of days. This will require a minimum of the following: a.) For rifle hunts - 10 rounds of factory load ammun~ion placed In a target at a range of 100 yards; this completed fonn !!lS! the target should be presented at check-In for the youth hunt. b.) For shotgun hunts -10 rounds of factory load ammun~ion at appropriate targets, clays, etc; this completed fonn should be presented at check-in for the youth hunt. c.) For bow hunts - 10 arrows placed in a archery target at a range of 20 yards; this completed form !!lS! the target should be presented at check-in for the youth hunt, Should these not be presented at check-in, the Huntmaster will have the option of excluding the youth hunter from hunting until proficiency has been demonstrated. Note: Should the event require different criteria (such as a shotgun patterned at 30 yards for turkey hunting) please CXJnsult with your Huntmaster for the appropriate recommended practices. 2. Upon arrival at the youth hunt, the participant (youth hunter) will be required to demonstrate marksmanship proficiency and knowledge as well as to verify that the firearm or bow is still properly sighted. The Huntmaster may exclude any participant from hunting until this requirement has been accomplished. In the event that the participanfs fireann or bow is not properly functioning or appears unsafe, an alternate fireann or bow may be used. 3. A marksmanship shooting activity will be held as soon as practical on each youth hunt. At that time, all participants (youth hunters) will be required to show proficiency and knowledge of their firearm or bow In order to be allowed to hunt. We certify that (youth hunter) did use a (fireann or bow) fired at yards on (date) and did exhib~ sufficient skills to be allowed to participate in a wild game youth hunt. Range CoordinatorlWitness Parent/Guardian Sigf1ature Signature Participant (youth hunter) Slgnatul'8 C;\ntydOonml_sIWDrkfilt:\yJlpffonrlSlJIfQrk.I"'(I'lIIhip~f1Jficatioll Rrv.12116105 ~. ~) I1We have knowingly and willingly cnten::d into a YHPF activity and agm: to abide by its Nles, tem1s, provisions and conditions. IIwe understand that if any person displays unsafe, unethical, illegal, or disruptive actionslattibldes or dilObeys ruleslpolicies, the entire party may be removed from the activity in the sole discreti.m of the Huntmuter, who has absolute autlmrity over the activity. Ifwe further understand that most youth hunts nonnally end approximately mid~y on Sunday and that participants will not be pennined to leave before then. In the event photographs, slides. interView or video IapCS are made,lIwe consent to the release of those images for use by the FWC in support of YHPP. In consideration for the right to panicipate in the YHPF activity, I/we unconditionally release, indemnifY and hold hannJess: (u.ndowner) Florida Fish and Wildlife Corlsm-aciOD Commission Wildlife Foundation of Florida Youth Hunting Program of Florida As well as any otber organization usociaced with this youth hunt and aD their officers, directors. trustees, employees. volWltecrs, agents,. individually and collectively (-released parties") from and against any and all claims, demands, causes of action and damages, including aUorneys' fees, for personal injury or loss either al or en route to and/or from the YHPF activity. resultins from any accident. incidm or oc:currcnce arising out of: inciden1al to or in any way resulting from, the YHPF activity whether or not caused by any released pany's negligence or gross negligence. I1We agree that IIwe, my/our heirs, successors and assigns will nol make any claim or institute any suil against the released parties. This release is full, final and unconditional, and is given for .sood and valuable consideration. But for this release. the named child or I would not be allowed to participate in the YHPF activity. nb rd!!Iu,- is Utlt!rldMl.1UIII sMJJ 1M CD,UIraM. tD achlde ,lae MetJSU oania fnJ. ..." ud aIllUtblUh. IIwe further acknowledge and understand that no warranty, eilber expressed or implied. is made by YHPF as 10 ihe YHPF activity, or of any roads, buildings, ga1eS or other improvements. and thai dangerous conditions, risks and hazards do exist, including: poisonous snakes, insects and spiders; blinds and tree stands, whether or not erct:ted by participanl(s); erosion and IcncraJ condition of the land. both on and off roadways or trails, creating rough, hazaJdous and dangerous driving and walking conditions; animals both wild and domestic that may be diacasc:d and/or potentially dangerous; deep water; persons with firearms and knives; and the use of vehicles. lIwe am/are aware of these conditions and expressly assume all dangers, risks and hazards. lIWe give permission to have emergency first-aid administered in the sole discretion of the Hunttnaster and to be transported by the moil expedient means of conveyance to Ihe nearest physicim. hospital, or clinic and to receive such treatment 15 medically prescnbed by physician(s). l/we acknowledge and understand th&t this release applies to all my family members serving as YHPF participants and volunteers. As used in this release. the terms I. my person and m)'self applies regaIdless of the nature of my involvement with the YHPF I and whether or not I attend any YHPF activity, acoompany a minor child, serve as a volunteer, or otherv.rise, and includes to the maximum extent pem1ittcd by Jaw any minor children participating in any YHPF activity. YOUTH I iil '.' ';iiiIiiW~Hi '""., , I~ ;l~i~lilHnHiii~!!lii:d.!!! I ,j!mfi.~lll;r,Hlii'iR ~,ri > I"!. I Fill;!!!"'r', ~l;'~...Jllillm'il!'Hitii;~ I I ~; .t' !ili1" ,.. . 'li" ',. J .'....jiiiitJ~~tjim;1.:Ej~5 iU~.~I'!;-::ffi\~~~' .'7.1 :i!:g~~!;!i!n;!!i" ijijij~!l,~iL,jl! i,!il PARENT/GUARDIAN ill,.'lI !mHli ,! l'lifi-.,]lifj{.:i'~,ii; ",,' !;i;i!iiiIT!:;~~ii!:!f;j!i ~.':;lH". Hi!I!:i!I;'iiiifljijrr;j~L~'iU!ii'!!i,I!l!'jii"i!I!!:' ,j!iijiim:':'l,iPlj!!i!i!i!Hi:,!!i,ijiijiij[!Ef.~}'j"i:i:;;. "".".~ "."",,: I I -=lii'!'!'iiii!'!mi mil!!t!ifff,n' -''iJ~@i!j!!!ii;i '~~€!iill:~' -?lE["~':~,-~':" .:..;;;l:'ti#;~U!R~'a..~if:~~~tm~~~"".~'m",j~j,!!iii!ljt!E!b!i 'H ij!;!:!!. I am unable to accoJJ1)any my child and authorize to serve as the guardian and give them pennission to seck and authorize medical treatment in the =t of.. emergency during the YHPF activity during the weekend of VOLUNTEER I ... , -,;;:,~mi!W[!!IT;~~}_"'i' ""u:~?#Jf'!1!i!!!!!m,' I I "i!m!Himl!~ ;!iiinilii!iii!!!:ii;itiiii!i!iE;:'s!;1~,;iti,: '-'-.~~:,i~o:':-idBii:'i: ,.l!riIIt i1 "'h ji!m!!iii!'iiii!ii!!ii:ilii~L ih~!ji!lii~i,~2-;~f~!"!", Names of other family members that may be assisring you this weekend: Rn. fJlJI:}OO9