QUITMAN — Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Commission will meet in a regularly scheduled meeting at Clarkco State Park next Thursday. The business session is set to start at 9 a.m. as rules and regulations and Commission Officer voting will be the biggest items on the agenda. 

The commission will open with the pledge of allegiance, a prayer from Jason Thompson and approving the minutes from the May 18th commission meeting. Tentatively, they will hear public comments from Chris Crowe and Eddie Briggs. 

Thompson will present the License Sales Report to the commission. It should be one of the last financial reports for Fiscal Year 2023. The Fiscal Year 2024 will start on July 1, 2023 for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. 

Jerry Brown, Director of Fisheries, will present three rules for Freshwater Fishing Guides and Outfitters to be voted on as final by the commission.

Russ Walsh, Wildlife Bureau Chief of Staff, will present any Chronic Wasting Disease Zone Changes to the commission. Last year the commission voted to make an exit plan for any counties placed in zones which did not have a positive detection after three years. 

A positive detected and confirmed in Tunica County this past March should place the county and any surrounding counties within a 10 mile radius into a CWD Management Zone per the MDWFP CWD Management Plan. Parts of Coahoma, Quitman and Tunica Counties were in the 10 mile radius. The Commission has to place counties in CWD Management Zones. 

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Commission voted to expand its Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone at the start of June. Parts of Concordia Parish were added to the CWD Management Zone due to positives being found further south in Tensas Parish. 

Charles Knight, director of Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, will present a proposed rule regarding animals in captivity and enclosures. 

Col. Jerry Carter, Chief of Law Enforcement, will follow with a law enforcement update typically covering the amount of tickets and citations issued and the top 5 violations. 

In other business, the commission could pass a resolution to purchase land in Scott County with Wildlife Heritage Funds. They should close out the meeting with the election of the 2023-2024 commission officers of chairman and vice chairman unless the commission has to go to executive session. 

July’s commission meeting is tentatively scheduled to be in Natchez on July 13 starting at 10 a.m. The meeting is tentatively set to be held at The Grand Hotel in the Ballroom on 11 North Broadway Street.