MLDP Fees Passed
The proposed fees for the Managed Lands Deer Program (MLDP) are now a reality. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission has approved changes to the MLD Program. The program provides Texas landowners with additional flexibility to manage mule deer and white-tailed deer populations. With the changes, MLDP fees will now be charged to participants each year.
MLDP is intended to provide greater deer hunting opportunities and improve native wildlife habitats on Texas private lands. TPWD biologists provide guidance to landowners enrolled in the program. The approved program changes include clarifying existing provisions and establishing MLDP fees for participation in the ever-growing deer management program.
Costs of MLD Program Success
“In the last 20 years the MLDP has grown from 800 tracts of land on 3 million acres to more than 12,000 tracts of land on 28 million acres, but in that time we have not had a source of funding to hire any new staff to help address the challenges we face with that growth,” said Alan Cain, TPWD white-tailed deer program leader.
“The revenue generated by the new MLDP fees will be used to hire new field biologists to meaningfully engage with program participants, meet technical guidance requests, and administer the MLD Program.”
MLDP Fees for Participants
The fee amendment establishes a $30 fee for each management unit within a property that is enrolled in the Harvest Option (HO), provided the property is not part of an aggregate acreage enrolled in the MLDP; a $30 fee for each aggregate acreage enrolled in the HO; a $300 fee for the first management unit of each property enrolled in the Conservation Option (CO) plus a $30 fee for each additional management unit of a property enrolled in the CO; a $300 fee for each aggregate acreage enrolled in the CO; and a $30 fee for each management unit of a wildlife management association or cooperative enrolled in the CO.
Cost of Fees Determined?
The MLDP fees amounts were selected by TPWD after soliciting and receiving input from department staff, stakeholder groups, including current program participants, and advisory committees.
Considerations for fee amounts included what would be a reasonable fee for participation in the MLDP considering the benefits received, the demands on department staff in administering the various options available to landowners under the MLDP, and which would not result in significant attrition from the MLDP by landowners.
TPWD will begin collecting MLDP participation fees in the spring of 2021 in preparation for the 2021-22 hunting season.
The MLDP program is great for Texas landowners interested in improving their land and the deer that use it. Our biologists is a wealth of information and has help us tremendously over the years. Good program.