Edison National Bank/Bank of the Islands is returning as the Military Prizes Sponsor for the 2023 Florida Python Challenge®. Additional sponsors, as well as hunters wishing to register, are welcome and can learn more at https://flpythonchallenge.org/.
This year’s python removal competition, organized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in cooperation with the South Florida Water Management District, and co-sponsored by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Foundation, is scheduled to run from August 4-13, 2023. The participants are encouraged to remove as many invasive Burmese pythons from designated Florida public lands as possible.
The ten-day event also serves as a reminder to the public that irresponsibly releasing pythons or other nonnative species into the wild can have devastating consequences for the native wildlife in the Florida Everglades and surrounding ecosystems.
The bank’s sponsorship is providing prize money that can only be won by registered participants serving in the active military or are veterans.
“My wife Robbie and I are avid python hunters,” said Bank CEO Geoff Roepstorff. “Python removal is the front lines of Florida conservation for us and our fellow hunters. This year, we are proud to once again encourage active military and veterans to hunt in the 2023 Python Challenge®. The three cash prizes we have underwritten are offered just for them. Best of luck to all the competing hunters!”
“Our first hunt was in the 2016 Florida Python Challenge®,” said Bank President Robbie Roepstorff. “Every python we have removed since then has been to honor our mothers, both of whom had a deep love of the native wildlife so threatened by these predatory exotic pythons invading the Everglades and now other parts of Florida.”
Founded 26 years ago in 1997, Edison National Bank/Bank of the Islands is the oldest locally owned and managed community bank in Lee County. With offices in Fort Myers, Sanibel, and Captiva, our bank is strongly rooted in the community and actively supports civic and charitable causes through both donations and volunteerism. For more information, call (239) 466-1800 or visit www.EdisonNationalBank.com.
