Tagged: department of wildlife and fisheries

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says high water is closing most hunting seasons in the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area. They'll close Friday, with only the waterfowl season remaining open.

It says the season will remain closed until the Pearl River drops below 16.5 feet at the St. Tammany Parish town of Pearl River.

The gate at Old U.S. Highway 11, a primary access point to the wildlife management area, will remain closed until the water recedes and all roads and bridges are determined safe for vehicle passage.

The state has acquired more than 11,000 acres of wetlands in Livingston and Tangipahoa parishes as part of a conservation project funded by a settlement over the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana said Monday that the $6.7 million purchase of the forested wetlands on the north shore of Lake Maurepas is funded by MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC, which was a minority partner in BP's blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says commercial licenses can now be renewed online.

People who have commercial licenses from the department can renew them at www.wlf.louisiana.gov/licenses.

Until now, commercial licenses could be renewed only by mail or in person at the department's office in Baton Rouge.

The department says the new choice is both more convenient for customers and lets the department provide quicker service.

Twenty-eight endangered whooping cranes now live in the wild in southwest Louisiana.