Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. -- The base Conservation Law Enforcement Office will be implementing a new Fish and Wildlife Conservation Tracking System scheduled to go into effect Aug. 10.
The tracking system will shut down from Aug. 7 through 9 for the update to take effect. Hunting will not be allowed during that time, but the system will be up in time for hunting season, Sept. 1.
The new system will allow hunters, fishermen and firewood harvesters to more efficiently check in and out when they plan to go on their outdoor excursions.
“The new system won’t be too much different then the old one,” said Patrick O’Neal, a U.S. Conservation Officer. “Its will be easier to navigate through and we’ve removed some of the old bugs in the system that disabled some of the links.”
Hunters who were previously registered will be automatically switched as long as their profiles are current. Any hunter’s profile that is deleted will be required to retake the hunting test.
The purpose of the Web site is to notify game wardens of who’s hunting on any particular day and where they’re hunting at. This allows the wardens to make sure every hunter gets home safely.
Hunters are required to check back in on the system no later than 1-1/2 hour after sunset. If they don’t check in by that time we send out a warden to look for them.
O’Neal said most of the time when a hunter checks in late it’s because they forgot but because wardens take the tracking system seriously, hunters who fail to do so will be penalized on their first offense by losing hunting privileges on base for one week. A second offense will require a mandatory court date with a 6-month loss of privileges.
If a game warden is required to go into the field because a hunter cannot be contacted by telephone, the hunter will automatically be given a court date if he fails to check out of his hunting area, regardless of his previous offenses.
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Tracking System also enables hunters and fishermen to record their harvest data. This helps the environmental office keep track of the statistics of the animals in the area.
For more information about the update, visit the base Conservation Law Enforcement Office Web Site at www.lejeune.usmc.mil/gwarden or call O’Neal at 910-451-5226.