Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commissioners heard a status report about renovations taking place at the Durant State Fish Hatchery during their regular monthly meeting Jan. 11, 2021, in Oklahoma City. Assistant Hatchery Manager Shane Lewis presented photos of the extensive progress that has been made during the first and second stages of the project, and outlined what remains to be done to modernize and revamp the facility.
In other business:
- Director J.D. Strong reported on Department activities since the previous meeting, including continued strong sales for fishing and hunting licenses.
- Wildlife Chief Bill Dinkines reported that this year’s total deer harvest will set a new record. Also, the “Take a Doe” campaign to ask hunters to harvest more antlerless deer this year was greatly successful. At this point, antlerless deer harvest is about 42 percent of total harvest, up from about 35 percent from last year. This also reverses a downward trend over the past several years, which will benefit the Department’s deer herd management efforts.
- Commissioners approved a budget revision for Fiscal Year 2021.
- Commissioners authorized the Director to pursue the purchase of property in Beckham and Harmon counties.
- Service awards were presented to Research Supervisor Kurt Kuklinski for 20 years of service and Information and Education Specialist Todd Craighead for 25 years of service.
A video recording of the meeting is available at https://youtu.be/oHeM2dc_Esg.
The next regular Commission meeting is set for 9 a.m. Feb. 1, 2021, at the John D. Groendyke Wildlife Conservation Building, 1801 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City.