Fast Facts

Updated February 2008

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Our Mission

Managing fish and wildlife resources for their long-term well-being and the benefit of people.

Our Staff

• 1,883 full-time employees, including...

  • More than 700 sworn law enforcement officers

  • More than 500 scientists

• Locations

  • Headquarters in Tallahassee

  • Five regional offices

    • Panama City, Lake City, Ocala, Lakeland and West Palm Beach

  • Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg

  • 73 field offices

Our Territory

Florida has...

• 53,927 square miles of land

• 5,983 square miles of water

• More than 34 million acres of public and private land

  • Including 5.8 million acres of wildlife management areas (one of the largest public-hunting systems in the country)

• 2,276 miles of tidal shoreline (8,426 "detailed" miles) 

• About 1,700 named rivers, streams and creeks travelling 10,550 miles 

• Approximately 12,000 miles of fishable rivers, streams and canals and an overall total of 51,858 miles of flowing water, including minor tributaries, creeks and ditches (20,000 of which consistently have water)

• About 7,700 lakes greater than 10 acres, covering 3 million total acres

Our Fish and Wildlife

The FWC protects and manages...

• More than 575 species of wildlife

• More than 200 native species of freshwater fish

• More than 500 native species of saltwater fish

...balancing these species' needs with the needs of more than 18 million residents and the millions of visitors who share the land and water with Florida's wildlife

Annual Economic Impact

• Hunting - $719 million, 10,300 jobs

• Saltwater Fishing - $5.2 billion, 51,500 jobs

• Freshwater Fishing - $2.4 billion, 23,500 jobs

• Total Fishing - $7.5 billion (some anglers don't specify fresh or salt), number one in the nation (Texas, the next highest state, generates $6.1 billion)

• Total Nonresident Economic Impact (Tourism) - $1.0 billion, number one in the nation (Wisconsin, the next highest state, generates $0.6 billion)

• Wildlife Viewing - $3.2 billion, 34,500 jobs

• Commercial Fishing - $576 million, 9,800 jobs

• Boating - $18.5 billion, 220,000 jobs

Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife-Watching Participation

• Number of hunters - 239,000

• Number of freshwater and saltwater anglers - 2,767,000

• Freshwater - 1,417,000 (1,155,000 resident and 262,000 nonresident)

• Saltwater - 2,002,000 (1,286,000 resident and 716,000 nonresident)

• Nonresidents (freshwater and saltwater) - 885,000

• Days of Fishing - 46,311,000 (24.5 million freshwater, 23.1 million saltwater, 4.8 million nonresident)

• Number of wildlife watchers - 3,287,000

Our Public Responsibilities

• Law Enforcement - We enforce rules to protect fish and wildlife, keep waterways safe for millions of boaters and cooperate with other law enforcement agencies providing homeland security. FWC law enforcement officers are among the first on the scene to help when natural disasters occur, because of our specialized equipment to access remote, hard-to-reach locations.

• Research - Our scientists work to provide information for the FWC and others to make management decisions based on the best science available involving fish and wildlife populations, habitat issues and the human-dimension aspects of conservation.

• Management - The FWC manages the state's fish and wildlife resources based on the latest scientific data to conserve some of the most complex and delicate ecosystems in the world along with a wide diversity of species.

• Outreach - We communicate with a variety of audiences to encourage participation, responsible citizenship and stewardship of the state's natural resources. This includes: 

  • Hunter safety training;

  • Boating safety classes;

  • Birding classes and outdoor recreation classes, including fishing and hunting;

  • Programs specifically for people who are not traditionally taught outdoors activities;

  • Programs and messages designed to help Floridians coexist with a variety of wildlife;

  • Public information - answering thousands of telephone calls and e-mail questions annually on subjects relating to hunting, fishing, wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation, weapons, boating, protected species and nuisance animal complaints.

Sources

• Florida Handbook 2005-2006, 30th Biennial Edition

• Atlas of Florida, Revised Edition 1996

• U.S. Census Bureau

• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 2006 National Survey on Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife-Associated Recreation

• Fla. Department of Environmental Protection 305b Report and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Tidal shoreline, detailed - takes bays, sounds and other bodies either to the head of tidewater or to a point where such waters narrow to 100 feet.

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