Ben’s Creek A La. Wildlife Management Dropout

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A 13,500-acre Washington Parish wildlife management area is dropping out of the state program.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says that on June 30, Ben's Creek Wildlife Management Area will return to full management by its owner, the Weyerhaueser Corp., and won't be accessible for public recreation.

Nearly 1.5 million acres of wildlife management areas are either owned by the department or leased to it without charge for public use such as hunting and fishing, boating, camping, hiking, bird watching and nature photography.

The department has managed the Ben's Creek land since 1987. Its rolling hills are managed mainly for pine timber and include numerous streams.