Wildlife

For Landowners in Southeast Louisiana’s Florida Parishes

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’(LDWF), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), has announced renewed funding for the Longleaf Pine Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) for the Florida Parishes for 2011. Initial applications are due by March 11, 2011 to be considered for first-round funding consideration.

LDWF and NRCS have entered into an agreement, under special provision of the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP), through which USDA will pay up to 90 percent of the cost of establishing longleaf pine seedlings and the native vegetation associated with this forest-type. Applications will be ranked and those ranked highest will be selected for funding. Selected applicants will enter into a contract with NRCS to maintain the longleaf planting for at least 15 years. The Longleaf Pine CCPI program is being offered to landowners in Tangipahoa, Washington and St. Tammany Parishes.

Longleaf pine forests once covered vast areas of the southeastern U.S., from the Atlantic coastal plains of Virginia to the Gulf coastal plains of Texas, encompassing more than 90 million acres in North America. Longleaf pine forests produced a diversity of cultural, ecological, and social-economic values, making them one of the great coniferous forests of the world. Today, longleaf pine forest fragments scattered across the southeast represent only a small remnant of this great ecosystem. Less than three percent of the original acreage remains. Outside of the tropics, longleaf pine forests are some of the world’s most biologically diverse habitats. They continue to support many unique animals and plants.

Interested landowners in Tangipahoa, Washington and St. Tammany Parishes can contact the LDWF Private Lands Biologist in the Hammond Field Office, 985-543-4777 or their local NRCS District office to apply: Tangipahoa Parish, ph. 985-748-8751, ext. 3; Washington and St. Tammany Parishes, ph. 985-839-5688, ext. 3.

For more information contact John Robinette at jrobinette@wlf.la.gov or ph. 337-491-2576. 

Watch out, here they come. One hundred and twenty-five enthusiastic women will fill the woods in Pollock at Camp Grant Walker in the rolling hills of central Louisiana. On April 8-10, 2011 the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) will sponsor its 23rd “Becoming an Outdoors-Woman” (BOW) workshop. Women throughout Louisiana and neighboring states will attend educational hands-on outdoor skill workshops. If you are a woman 18 or older and like the outdoors, you will love this three-day skill’s workshop.

Registration will open on February 14, 2011. Interested persons are urged to register as soon as possible beginning on this date. The $170 fee (check or money order only) includes instruction for four selected classes, program materials, use of demonstration equipment, lodging, meals, and t-shirt.

Two Liz Barthel Memorial Scholarships are available for this workshop to any new participant that is of low income and has children under the age of 18. The scholarship pays $125 of the $170 registration fee. The scholarship recipient will be responsible for a $45 fee. To find out how to apply, go to www.wlf.louisiana.gov/workshop-scholarships.

Participants will enroll in four classes from a selection of more than 30 topics. These subjects include bucks and does, shotgun, rifle, fly-fishing, canoeing, camping, archery, horseback riding, fishing, boating/trailering, map and compass skills, outdoor photography, camp cooking, and more. Expert instructors donate their time and skills in classes taught in and around the nearby streams, lakes, wooded ridges, and forest trails of beautiful Louisiana.

Natural resource scientist Christine Thomas of the University of Wisconsin founded the “Becoming an Outdoors-Woman” program. She completed a survey in 1991 entitled Barriers to Women Participating in Hunting and Fishing. It documented that the most obvious problem for women was lack of instruction and encouragement.

To receive a registration form contact LDWF Educators, Dana Norsworthy (318) 345-3912 or Bill Breed (318) 343-1241. Forms can be faxed, mailed or retrieved from the LDWF Web site at www.wlf.louisiana.gov/becoming-outdoors-woman-bow. The forms will not be available until February 14, 2011. They must be returned by mail to the address on the form. Hand delivered registration forms will not be accepted until February 15, 2011. The first 125 completed registration forms received with payment will be accepted. All forms received after the workshop is full will be placed on a waiting list in case of cancellations.

Join the fun and be one of those 125 women in the woods. Register for “Becoming an Outdoors-Woman” and become skilled in something you always dreamed about doing.

The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana's abundant natural resources. For more information, visit us at www.wlf.louisiana.gov on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ldwffb or follow us on Twitter @LDWF.

For more information, please contact Dana Norsworthy at LDWF at (318)345-3912 or dnorsworthy@wlf.la.gov.

Editors: “Becoming an Outdoors-Woman” is sponsored by LDWF and a registered trademark. Please do not confuse this program with the “Women in the Outdoors” program sponsored by the National Wild Turkey Federation.