Page 11 - SeptOct2019

OLAP ADDS TO PUBLIC ACCESS FOR 3RD YEAR The Oklahoma Land Access Program began in 2017, when it opened about 10,000 acres of private land to public access for hunting, fishing and wildlife-watching opportunities. As OLAP enters its third year, more than 62,000 private acres have been enrolled, said Wildlife Biologist Jeff Tibbits, coordinator of the program for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. OLAP provides financial incentives to landowners who allow public access for hunting, fishing, stream access, and wildlife viewing opportunities on private lands. The Wildlife Department received a $2.26 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of the 2014 Farm Bill, through the Voluntary Public Access — Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP). VPA-HIP programs are successful at simultaneously rewarding conservation on private lands and providing more opportunities for sportspersons. “OLAP has grown substantially in its first three years,” Tibbits said. This year’s newest areas have added four miles of stream access and 55 acres with ponds for walk-in fishing. A core principle of the OLAP is to increase walk-in access opportunities for hunting, fishing, stream access, and wildlife viewing. This goal compliments a main tenet of the North American Conservation Model: that every citizen has an opportunity, under the law, to hunt and fish. The democratic foundation of this conservation model has made it the most successful in the world, and the OLAP seeks to increase access for multiple opportunities throughout the state. Anyone with a hunting or fishing license is permitted to enter open OLAP areas for the activities specified for that area; no other permissions are required. Another core principle of the OLAP is to include and reward conservation-minded landowners. Enrolled landowners are OLAP coordinator Jeff Tibbits places a sign to mark the boundaries of another private property opened for public access. compensated based on enrolled acres, location, access type, and contract length. Almost anyone who owns or leases land can qualify for an OLAP lease, and ideal properties include CRP-enrolled grassland, native rangeland, weedy crop stubble, forests, riparian corridors, wetland areas, and wildlife-friendly field buffers. The Wildlife Department posts signs on OLAP property boundaries, and parking areas have informational signs indicating access dates and activities that are permitted. For updated maps, lease applications, e-newsletter subscriptions and more information, go online to www.wildlifedepartment.com/ olap. OLAP is also on Facebook. OLAP is made possible by a Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program grant provided by the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture and administered by the Natural Resourc- es Conservation Service. Cimarron Texas Beaver Harper Ellis Woods Woodward Dewey Alfalfa Grant Garfield Kay Noble Nowata Craig Ottawa Rogers Mayes Delaware Wagoner Cherokee September/October 2019 9 Roger Mills Beckham Greer Harmon Jackson Custer Washita Kiowa Tillman Okmulgee OLAP sites exist in orange counties as of August 2019. Johnston Marshall Pushmataha Choctaw Major Blaine Kingfisher Logan Osage Pawnee Caddo Comanche Cotton Canadian Grady Stephens Jefferson Pittsburg Haskell Latimer Oklahoma Cleveland McClain Garvin Murray Carter Love Payne Lincoln Tulsa Pottawatomie Seminole Washington DON P. BROWN/ODWC Pontotoc Creek Okfuskee Hughes Coal Atoka Bryan Muskogee McIntosh Adair Sequoyah Leflore McCurtain