Hello,

This weekend I decided to hike at my favorite location which is a WMA in central Florida. 5 minutes after arriving and beginning my hike, I encountered a truck marked FWC law enforcement obstructing the way through. As I approached the truck coming from the designated entrance, two persons on bikes were leaving the property and approaching the truck from the opposite way. The officer gave their attention to them first, quickly dismissing them, despite the fact that there is no biking allowed on the premises as instructed by signage posted at the parking area.

Once the officer let the bikers on their way with little to no hassle, she gave much more interest into my whereabouts. Now I am in my 20's, have long hair and a beard, am Hispanic but look white, and am wearing plain clothing with hiking boots and have a medium sized day/overnight pack (32L) with fruit inside and water bottles clearly visible on the exterior of my pack.

The officer begins to converse with me asking me where I'm headed. I tell the officer I hike at this location often and would like to be on my way. She goes on to say that she needs to look inside my bag for inspection. This begins to frustrate me as here I am in the last situation I want to be in on a day I am trying to enjoy nature. Regardless, I tell the officer I don't consent to search and there is no probable cause for authority to search my belongings. Bear in mind I do not have any gear which would indicate any involvement in a regulated activity in this location. I am simply a hiker with a day pack trying to get on with my hike. I told the officer I do not have any weapons and carry plenty of items in my pack in the event I get lost or stuck out for a night and do not want the officer to disorganize my arrangement.

We begin to go back and forth about the search and the more I decline the officer's request the more aggressive the officer becomes, seeming to believe I have something I am trying to hide - but no, just trying to avoid anything and defend the rights I have (supposedly).

When I tell the officer they have no probable cause for a search, they told me they did not need probable cause for any search or inspection on the property, and that so long as I was on the property I was subject to search at any time. This blew my mind.

Here I am, literally just walked into this public land, and 5 minutes later I am subject to inspection. I should have asked for a supervisor or called the FWC at this point, but anxious in the situation and confident i have nothing to hide, I basically just caved in and wasn't going to fight the officer to keep their hands off my belongings.

At this point, aggregated by my resistance, the officer seems hellbent on finding something to cite me for. The last thing I would have thought, I use a turtle shell to hold loose incense i.e white sage and resins. It was clearly a used and old shell, though she took it and told me that if it were an endangered turtle, that it could be a jail-able offense. Nuts.

Anyways, at this point the officer returns to their vehicle for an extended duration, 25-30 minutes (of a total of 55 minutes this entire process took from encounter to dismissal). The officer is on the phone, filling paperwork, and trying to identify this shell. During this time I call the officer and the officer heard me out, I asked the officer why she would hold me up for something so ridiculous as I am just trying to hike and didn't want any issues, I assured the officer I would never damage the park or do something wrong and always pick up trash when I see it. The officer seemed to loosen grip a little bit and took a softer tone, so I guess talking can help sometimes but not always.

Originally, the officer was going to write me a "property receipt" for the incident and once a biologist got back to them on the identification, they would contact me. Then after more time back in the truck, the officer came back and said they were able to get it identified there and that it was not an endangered species (it was a box turtle shell) and that I am able to have it back.

At this point the officer kindly lets me go, but not after a very unnecessary and uncomfortable situation. If i were to encounter this situation often, it would ruin my experience of Florida's natural lands, in fear that my rights will be violated, potentially through being profiled or judged by an officer, and held up for an unnecessary amount of time in which anything I say do or posses could be turned into a violation that any ordinary person would not consider common knowledge to relate said things with criminal activity.

If there is any advice on this situation, how to handle it better if I encounter it once again, and if there is any resources available that will confirm that wildlife officers are not above the 4th amendment and can not search me unless I am hunting, fishing, or observed removing wildlife, i would be very grateful to hear it.

I plan to visit one of the FWC's regional offices and speak with them personally about the matter, hopefully getting someone to be in contact with if a situation like this ever occured again.

Sorry for the long story here, wanted to be very thorough. Thank you!