State effort to remove Florida panthers from endangered species list

David Fleshler at the Sun Sentinel has an article sure to get some riled up. The Florida panther population has recovered and is thriving too much for some. The state wants to have more control over the animal to avoid future interactions with people and their private property. Here is an excerpt:

     Nick Wiley, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said he will propose seeking a relaxation of "unrealistic" federal criteria so panthers could be removed from the list and management turned over to state of Florida. The commission, a seven-member board appointed by the governor, plans to discuss the issue at its June 23 meeting in Sarasota.
     "A lot of people feel like the only way to save an endangered species is to keep it on the endangered species list as long as you can," he said. "I respectfully disagree with that. An endangered species means a species that needs to be under critical care, like in the emergency room. Panthers no longer, in my view, need critical care.''
     Free of federal restrictions, he said, Florida could focus more on the critical issue of panthers' interactions with people. Many landowners don't want an endangered species on their property, he said, because it would impede development or otherwise alter the landscape.
     Although there has never been a confirmed attack by a panther on a human being, Wiley said the state wants the authority to kill panthers that become persistent problems.