The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) has received a large volume of calls regarding the future of their lifetime licenses in the wake of the recent legislative session.
Act 356-HB 691, recently signed by Gov John Bel Edwards, does not eliminate all lifetime licenses from the agency. Rather, it consolidates lifetime licenses into three types:
- Resident (including youth 17 and under) – $500
- Resident Lifetime Senior (65 and older) – $100
- Non-Resident Lifetime – $4,000
The new lifetime licenses will streamline and consolidate the old lifetime license structure and will include recreational hunting, fishing, and gear privileges.
These new licenses will go on sale June 1, 2022.
The current individual lifetime licenses (e.g. Resident Lifetime Fishing Only [$300] and Resident Lifetime Hunting Only [$300]) that are available through the current license structure will no longer be offered after May 31, 2022.
All current lifetime license holders will keep their existing privileges and they will not be converted into one of the new licenses.
To help explain the new license structures for hunters, anglers and our commercial fishermen, LDWF has created a webpage with several handouts and facts at: https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/understanding-our-license-fee-changes.
