Louisiana may let anyone hunt alligators for $50 lottery fee | Environment

A $50 lottery could soon give anyone a chance to reel in one of Louisiana’s 3 million alligators.

Senate Bill 244, sponsored by state Sen. Robert Allain, R-Franklin, would expand alligator hunting by adding a recreational season. Currently, the state has a three-month commercial period when licensed hunters can harvest alligators on land they own or designated public land and water bodies. 

If the Louisiana Legislature passes Allain’s bill, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries would be able to issue 10,000 tags for recreational hunters, accessible via a lottery.

Increasing hunting of the reptile could help address overpopulation of the once-endangered species without disturbing the commercial industry, according to Allain.

The added season would also give a broader swath of people the opportunity to hunt, as the commercial industry mostly serves private landowners of alligator habitat.

“We’re trying to kind of kill two birds with one stone: increase the availability to go and harvest an alligator and at the same time, not upset the commercial market,” Allain said.

Cole Garrett, the general counsel of LDWF, said hunters would be able to get up to two tags in the lottery, which would cost $50 to enter. The recreational season could begin October 1 in areas south of Interstate 10 if the bill gains approval. The hunting would be limited to hook and line catch from land.

“You cannot shoot these things from a boat,” Garrett said. 

The Senate’s Natural Resources committee on Wednesday greenlit the measure without objections. The bill still needs approval from the full Senate and the House, and would need Gov. Jeff Landry’s signature.

An alligator boom

Louisiana’s wild alligator population has soared from less than 100,000 to more than 3 million since the launch of the state’s alligator management program more than 50 years ago.

Following a decade of closed seasons in the 1960s, the state wildlife agency developed a hunting program that gave an economic incentive — commercial harvesting — for landowners to protect the coastal wetland habitat that alligators call home. The wildlife department estimates that the program brings in more than $250 million each year.

“It’s probably the greatest conservation story in America,” said Allain, a commercial alligator hunter himself. “They did such a good job that we have overpopulation now.”

The market price for gators is “very low,” Allain said, so fewer people were hunting alligators commercially. 

Data from the state agency shows price drops in recent years. In the early 2000s, the average price per foot for alligators exceeded $25. But in the past ten years, that price frequently dipped to $7.50 per foot.

Tyler Bosworth, secretary of the wildlife agency, told legislators that the new season dovetails with the department’s larger goal of increasing hunting opportunities for Louisianans. This includes expanding hunting opportunities to the black-bellied whistling duck and black bears, as well as gaining state control of amberjack season. He said the agency has been working with Allain on the alligator hunting proposal for the past two years.

“We want to provide that recreational opportunity for the common folk of Louisiana,” Bosworth said.

‘Highly regulated’

Under the current system, hunters need to own alligator habitat in order to get a commercial tag, Allain noted. Around 80% of coastal alligator habitat is privately owned land, though alligators also live on some public lands and waterways.

The agency is working with private landowners and the alligator industry to cover potential concerns, Garrett told legislators. This means differentiating tags from their commercial counterparts so that the recreationally harvested alligators stay out of the market.

“It’s a very highly regulated species and it’s important we keep it that way,” Garrett said. 

Kevin Hayes, a representative of the Louisiana Landowners Association, said wildlife agency officials have been in recent discussions with coastal land managers and property owners.

He said trespassing and enforcement of property rights were important issues, but that his conversations “gave us some comfort, not 100%, but some comfort that we’re part of the discussion.”