OVERTIME OUTDOORS: Interior Secretary announces historic expansion of hunting opps on public lands

Published 1:00 am Sunday, August 23, 2020

Teche Area hunters who want to hunt one or more species on national wildlife refuges in-state or out-of-state now have even more opportunity.

Recreational access on public lands has been increased with the historic opening and expansion of more than 2.3 million acres at 147 national wildlife refuges, U.S. Secretary of the Interior David L. Bernhardt announced Tuesday at the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge near Saginaw, Michigan. It is the single-largest expansion of hunting and fishing opportunities in the history of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to a prepared statement.

“On the heels of President Trump signing the most significant conservation and recreation funding in U.S. history, providing nearly $20 billion over the next 10 years to fix and conserve the American people’s public lands, the Trump Administration has now made an additional 2.3 million acres accessible to new hunting and fishing opportunities. We continue to take significant actions to further conservation initiatives and support sportsmen and women who are America’s true conservationists,” Bernhardt said.

Changes to Louisiana include opening raccoon hunting on acres already open to other hunting and expanding season dates and hours for migratory bird and squirrel hunting on Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge near Lacombe; opening woodcock hunting on acres already open to other hunting on the Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge near Jena, and opening coyote, beaver, opossum and skunk hunting on acres already open to hunting on the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge near Tallulah.

Changes affecting Louisiana/Mississippi public lands include expanding season dates for existing goose, squirrel, feral hog and wild turkey hunting on Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge 60 miles northeast of New Orleans, and expanding the method of take for existing white-tailed deer hunting.

Area hunters who prefer to travel west but stay closer to home can enjoy new rules on public lands in Texas. They are as follow:

• Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing white-tailed deer hunting to new acres.

• Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge: Open dove and quail hunting on acres already open to other hunting, and expand existing pheasant hunting to new acres.

• Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge: Open alligator, feral hog and nilgai hunting on acres already open to other hunting.

• Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge: Open turkey and javelina hunting on new acres and acres already open to hunting, and expand existing migratory bird and big game hunting to new acres.

According to the U.S.F&WS, the final rule opens or expands 859 hunting and fishing opportunities. (An opportunity is defined as one species on one field station in one state.) Added to last year’s expansion of 1.4 million acres for new or expanded hunting and fishing opportunities, the proposal would bring the Trump Administration’s total expansion to more than 4 million acres across this great country.

“The Trump Administration and Secretary Bernhardt have made access to public lands for hunting and fishing and other outdoor recreation a priority beginning one day one. Hunting and fishing are a part of our American history, and we continue to ensure we provide opportunities for these activities which epitomize our American heritage,” U.S.F&WS Director Aurelia Skipwith said.

A complete list of all refuges and hatcheries opening or expanding hunting or fishing is available in the final rules. They can be seen at www.fws.gov/home/feature/2020/2020-2021-Station-Specific-Hunting-and-Fishing-Final-Rule-Narratives.pdf.

What other opportunities are out there? Those include the opening of migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting, big game hunting and sport fishing — all for the first time — at Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge in Florida; the opening of upland game hunting and big game hunting for the first time at Bamforth National Wildlife Refuge in Wyoming, and the opening of sport fishing for the first time and expanding of existing migratory bird, upland game and big game hunting and sport fishing to new acreage at Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge in West Virginia.

One of the most interesting and beneficial addition to the rule continues the effort from last year’s rule toward revising refuge hunting and fishing regulations to more closely match state regulations where the refuge is located.

The final rule will publish in the Federal Register and be available at www.regulations.gov. Docket Number: FWS-HQ-NWRS-2020-2013.

The news this past week was a picker-upper for outdoorsmen here and the rest of the U.S. Thumbs up to the Trump Admnistration.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.