The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission voted Thursday to allocate all Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries dedicated funding for development and preservation of migratory waterfowl breeding grounds to Ducks Unlimited (DU) for three years.
In response to a Commission request for proposals in April, proposals were presented to the Commission in June by the United Prairie Foundation, Delta Waterfowl and DU. Each group was seeking funding that comes from 10 percent of LDWF hunting license sales. Those proposals can be viewed at this location on the LDWF website: http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/action-items .
After hearing Wildlife Division biologist evaluations and two deadlocked votes at the September meeting, the issue was reconsidered at the Nov. 5 meeting with seven members present. After a motion to divide the funding between DU and Delta Waterfowl was presented, and voted down, the Commission voted to allocate all funds to DU.
DU will recieve $320,000 in each of three consecutive fiscal years including 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 that is to be used for protecting, restoring and enhancing breeding habitat for migratory waterfowl. DU has been awarded a major portion of this funding since 1965.
For more information, contact Larry Reynolds at 225-765-0456 or lreynolds@wlf.la.gov.