Louisiana alligator program praised in D.C.

As part of America's 250th anniversary celebration, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheeries executive staff was honored in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday at the U.S. Department of Interior’s “Scales of Success’’ program, a Great American Expedition event highlighting Louisiana’s internationally recognized alligator management program.
In 1972, the alligator population was down to only about 100,000.
Now, the LDWF management program has helped alligators thrive, and the population exceeds 3 million.
– both past and pr been possible without their efforts.’’
Since the program began in 1972, the harvest of wild alligators along with egg collection and the selling of farm-raised alligators have brought in millions of dollars of revenue to landowners, trappers and farmers. Conservative estimates have valued the alligator trade in Louisiana at more than $250 million annually