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Striking a balance on gators
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Location: Blogs Now We're Talking |
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| Posted by: Joe Byrnes |
2/15/2007 3:28 PM |
Back in January 2001, editors in the Star-Banner newsroom received a bizarre tip: Orange Lake, the 12,500-acre body of water at Marion County's north end, had practically disappeared.
It had shrunk to 5,000 acres during a drought, losing almost 12 square miles. Reporter Joe Callahan could see water flushing down the sinkholes at Heagy Burry Park.
Photo Editor Alan Youngblood returned with stunning panoramic pictures showing a mere trickle where the western edge of Orange Lake had been and images of fish crowding a small pool, gulping for oxygen.
The drought devastated local businesses. After a couple years, though, Orange Lake came back - with improvements - and now the fishing is good.
After all that, I should have known Orange Lake is way too big for me to navigate by canoe. Nevertheless, on a blustery spring day almost two years ago, I put in at South Shore Fish Camp and paddled into its murky maze, meandering around islands of weeds and mud. I could sometimes hear the whir of motorboats from open stretches in the distance.
I wondered briefly if I was lost in some kind of labyrinth, but only once did I panic. The canoe, slicing quietly through the water, must have disturbed a huge alligator swimming a few yards away.
It erupted with an angry splash and disappeared below the surface, leaving behind a monstrous boil of muddy water. My 16-footer suddenly seemed very small and thin-hulled and not nearly stable enough.
What did I learn from this? I learned that, with sufficient motivation, I can paddle fast.
If you've been on our lakes and rivers, you, too, have seen your share of alligators. You've heard them croaking, watched them crawl and slither off a bank or, with your spotlight after dark, caught the red eye-shine of dozens lining the shore.
They are cold-blooded relics from 200 million years ago. And, like Orange Lake, they almost disappeared. Through hunting and loss of habitat, they were in danger of extinction in the 1960s.
But, thanks to federal and state protection, they bounced back, and by 1987 alligators were no longer considered a threatened species.
Nowadays, Florida alone has more than a million, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reviewing its alligator regulations. Tonight, in Tallahassee, the FWC begins a series of 14 public meetings to get citizen input. The meeting schedule is at myfwc.com/gators.
Issues include whether to reclassify the alligator, now a tightly regulated Species of Special Concern, as a game species. The FWC could relax hunting restrictions, allow landowners to manage alligators on their land and make it easier for homeowners to get rid of nuisance gators.
For most of us, it comes down to conservation and public safety. FWC Alligator Management Program Coordinator Harry Dutton has heard strong views from both sides.
"It's just a heck of a balance to try to strike," Dutton said, "and that's what this is all about."
In a survey, Floridians were evenly split on whether the state has too many alligators. The real challenge, of course, is the growing human population. In revising its rules, the FWC should keep in mind the continuing loss of alligator habitat.
The closest FWC meetings are in Gainesville on Feb. 22 and 27. You can also have input by e-mailing Dutton at harry.dutton@myfwc.com.
Living with alligators - in fear or wonder (or both) - is part of what it means to call Florida home.
Joe Byrnes may be reached at joe@ocala.com or (352) 867-4112.
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