The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and Governor Jeff Landry announced in a press conference today (Dec. 9) a conservation partnership between LDWF and Healing Road Foundation to support black bear conservation and military veterans in the Sportsman’s Paradise. Through this partnership agreement, the Healing Road Foundation was able to raffle a Louisiana black bear harvest permit for the 2024 season to a Louisiana military veteran.
The Healing Road Foundation is a veteran-founded and managed organization dedicated to providing life-changing outdoor experiences to wounded veterans, survivors and their children to help reconnect families and lead them on a path to rehabilitation and healing. Through partnering with the Healing Road Foundation, LDWF is able to give back to those who have served our country and advance black bear management efforts to provide more hunting opportunities to sportsmen of Louisiana.
Louisiana is currently holding its first black bear hunt in more than 35 years after recovery of the species in 2016. The season, in which 10 hunting permits have been distributed, will conclude Dec. 22 in Bear Management Area 4, which includes Tensas, Madison, East Carroll and West Carroll parishes and portions of Richland, Franklin, and Catahoula parishes.
“Today is another huge win for Louisiana’s hunters, sportsmen, conservationists, and veterans. Louisiana has a proven track record when it comes to species conservation! Thank you to Secretary Madison Sheahan and the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, as well as the Healing Road Foundation, for your hard work in making this Louisiana hunting tradition a reality again,” said Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry.
“Being able to hunt in the Sportsman’s Paradise is a freedom we can only enjoy because of those who have served and sacrificed for our country,” said LDWF Secretary Madison Sheahan. “It is an honor and privilege to partner with the Healing Road Foundation to provide this exciting hunting opportunity to not just a sportsman in Louisiana, but a military veteran who has served our country with pride.”
“Healing Road Foundation is proud to be a partner with the LDWF in the Louisiana Black Bear conservation program,’’ the Foundation said. “It is at the heart of our core mission of providing life-changing outdoor experiences for wounded veterans, survivors, and their children. We strive to be a national leader in relationship rehabilitation and healing for wounded veterans and their families through experiencing nature and its conservation for future generations of Americans.’’
LDWF would like to thank Louisiana State Representative Neil Riser, R-Columbia, for a provision in his legislation on black bear conservation last spring which allowed LDWF to conduct a search for a partner like Healing Road Foundation.
All black bear lottery fees and license revenue, including that of the auctioned permit, will be reinvested directly into the Louisiana Black Bear Program. These funds will assist LDWF biologists in continuing to conduct bear management operations such as annual live trapping and radio-collaring of bears, winter den checks to monitor reproductive rates, and non-invasive hair sampling to monitor range expansion.
The Louisiana black bear is one of the state’s most recent conservation success stories. The animal was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1992. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of many stakeholders to monitor black bear population numbers, restore habitat and protect the bear for the long term, it was removed from the list in 2016.
For more information on Healing Road Foundation, go to https://www.thehealingroad.org/.
For more information on the management of the Louisiana black bear, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB_oXGkwDUA.
For more information on the Louisiana black bear, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/subhome/louisiana-black-bear. And for more information on the black bear hunting lottery, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/black-bear-hunting-lottery.