What if access to over 360,000 acres of prime, privately-owned habitat was available to Oklahoma residents for just $100?
Well, it is! Through partnerships with private landowners, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation makes available several Wildlife Management Areas and private properties through the Oklahoma Land Access Program (OLAP). These properties offer hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities to users who purchase the Land Access Permit along with their hunting and/or fishing license.
The permit ($100 for Oklahoma residents; $200 for nonresidents) helps off-set the Department's costs for leasing, managing and law enforcement on these areas while giving a degree of exclusivity to the hunters and anglers who use them. What the sportsman gets in return might be one of the best bargains in hunting; namely access to hundreds of thousands of acres of prime wildlife habitat. These include Honobia Creek and Three Rivers WMAs in southeast Oklahoma, open OLAP properties, and - for Oklahoma residents only - the new 19,000-acre Herron Family Wildlife Management Area.
Oklahoma residents who are 17 years of age or younger on the first day of the current calendar year are exempt from Land Access Permit requirements, as are residents age 64 years or older. A three-day special use land access permit is available to residents for non-hunting and non-fishing related activities. Nonresidents are not exempt and must purchase the annual permit. Lifetime license holders also are not exempt.
Here we give you a closer look at the places that open up to Land Access Permit holders.
Honobia Creek & Three Rivers Wildlife Management Areas
The land within the Honobia Creek and Three Rivers WMAs is owned by private timber companies that have working lease agreements with the Wildlife Department to provide public access.
Nestled in southeast Oklahoma, Honobia Creek covers almost 65,719 acres leased in Pushmataha, Leflore and McCurtain counties. Three Rivers WMA is currently comprised of 184,817 acres leased in McCurtain and Pushmataha counties. Both areas are mostly comprised of loblolly pine plantations interspersed with hardwood stands of species like oaks and hickories.
Both areas are teeming with game animals including deer, Eastern wild turkey, squirrels, cottontail & swamp rabbits, doves furbearers, and even black bear. Even quail hunters will find birds in moderate to good numbers thanks to special management efforts aimed at improving upland bird habitat.
Honobia Creek includes a walk-in only turkey hunting area, offering hunters an opportunity to hunt free from vehicular disturbance; pluse two non-ambulatory areas are available. Fishing for sunfish, flathead catfish, channel catfish, and smallmouth, largemouth, and spotted bass can be found in the Little River.
Three Rivers offers three walk-in-only turkey hunting areas and two non-ambulatory areas. The Glover River runs through Three Rivers - one of the last free-flowing streams in Oklahoma. Here you can catch smallmouth bass and sunfish using just light spinning or fly fishing tackle.
Nongame wildlife includes dozens of bird species - including bald eagles - and even alligators in low numbers at Three Rivers.
Both WMAs are dotted with small ponds and miles of rivers, streams and creeks.
Management efforts for both areas focus on preserving hardwood stands and maintaining travel corridors during clear-cutting. Select roads are closed and managed as forest openings. Small agricultural food plots are planted annually.
Although no designated camping areas exist, primitive camping is allowed on both areas no more than 50yds off an open road during open WMA hunting seasons. Lodging and restaurants are available in nearby Hochatown and Broken Bow.
Oklahoma Land Access Program (OLAP)
The Wildlife Department's Oklahoma Land Access Program (OLAP) provides financial incentives to landowners who allow public access for hunting, fishing, stream access, and wildlife viewing opportunities on private lands. As such, the Wildlife Department does not own any properties enrolled in OLAP. Rather, the agency leases them annually. While there are some grant funds to help pay these leases, some agency funds are still required as match for these grants. The Land Access Permit helps cover these matching funds.
The end result is roughly 92,000 acres of privately owned lands opened for activities like hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing, with even more acre planned in the future. Some of these lands are limited access and require checking in before accessing to ensure the best experience for users and landowners. Full details, including locations and maps, can be found on the Wildlife Department's website here.
Herron Family WMA (Oklahoma Resident Access Only)
Additionally, the ODWC is partnering with a new southeast Oklahoma land lease partner - Herron Industries LLC, to open the new Herron Family WMA in McCurtain County. The area includes about 17,720 acres leased that will be open this fall to Oklahoma residents after the Herron family agreed to a five-year lease. Herron Industries is a family-owned timber producer with headquarters in Idabel. The area offers hunting for deer, turkey and other game.
Pete Herron, co-manager at Herron Industries and vice president of the Herron Family Tree Farm, said, “The Herron family has been growing Oklahoma’s best timber since 1944. We have always been committed to the state of Oklahoma and the good people that reside here."
These lands offered through the Land Access Permit are part of an even larger offering of about 1.5 million-plus acres at more than 100 sites that ODWC manages statewide for fish and wildlife conservation and habitat - areas that are available for the enjoyment of hunters, anglers, wildlife watchers, and sport shooters on established ranges.
To say Oklahomans are blessed with ample outdoor access is an understatement, and with the Land Access Permit, hunters and anglers are able to access even more opportunities that otherwise wouldn't be possible.
Get Your Land Access Permit Here
– Michael Bergin, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on the 'Outdoor Oklahoma Journal,' the blog of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.