(KLFY) — The Louisiana State Legislature passed House bill 684 this week to re-establish a black bear hunting season in Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries considers bringing back a black bear hunting season to the state to be huge for the management, conservation, restoration and enhancement of the species here in the state.

LDWF Secretary Madison Sheahan said what people are seeing is “a huge success story for conservation for the state of Louisiana to be able to get the species back to the point at which it can be managed through a hunting season.”

Louisiana hunters to have black bear season with new law

The Louisiana black bear was put on the endangered species list in 1992 with a population of less than 400. In 2016, they were taken off of the list with a population of 1,212. According to Sheahan the state currently has around 1,500 black bears that they are aware of. For the hunting season, there will be ten bear tags for hunters to have.

“Seven of those tags will go to landowners,” Sheahan said. “Two of those tags will be used for public consumption. Then a final tag is able to be auctioned off by the department to be able to put funds into the black bear account to prioritize management of the species as well as the habitat.”

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Coming from where the population was to where it is now, Sheahan said this was important for the state to uphold its reputation as sportsman’s paradise.

“The Louisiana black bear is a prime example for us to have a success story of conservation that many states don’t ever get the chance to talk about,” Sheahan said.

The season will be restricted to the northeast part of the state. It will run from December 7 to December 22.

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