LDWF signed a 25-year lease agreement in April that secured 92,000 acres of property recently acquired by Forest Capital Partners of Boston, Mass., from Boise Paper. Those lands include 54,000 acres in Vernon Parish, formerly Boise- Vernon Wildlife Management Area (WMA), that were renamed Clear Creek WMA in a resolution passed June 2 by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission.

Additionally, a 7,000-acre tract in Sabine WMA (Sabine Parish) and 31,000-acre tract in West Bay WMA (Allen Parish) will continue to be managed as wildlife management areas. Boise Paper sold the properties to Forest Capital Partners in 2004. The total acreage, now managed under the name of Meriwether Louisiana Land and Timber LLC, has now been leased to LDWF free of charge for the next 25 years.

LDWF operates 50 WMAs across the state consisting of 1,270,521 acres of land. Those acres are maintained for public outdoor recreational purposes, primarily hunting and fishing activities. The public can also enjoy camping, hiking and bird watching in most of these areas.

For more information on wildlife management areas operated by LDWF, visit www.wlf.louisiana.gov on the Internet. From the department's home page, click on "Wildlife" (under Divisions) and then Wildlife Management Area Programs.