About Us
The Baton Rouge Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office is located in the Mississippi River Valley Watershed.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a bureau within the Department of Interior. We are the premier government agency dedicated to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish, wildlife and plants, and their habitats. We are the only agency in the federal government whose primary responsibility is management of these important natural resources for the American public. The Service also helps ensure a healthy environment for people through its work benefiting wildlife, and by providing opportunities for Americans to enjoy the outdoors and our shared natural heritage.
The Service manages the 150-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System comprised of 567 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 51 fishery conservation offices and 91 ecological services field stations. The agency also manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts.
The Service is responsible for implementing and enforcing some of our Nation’s most important environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, North American Wetlands Conservation Act and Lacey Act. It also oversees the Federal Aid program responsible for distributing hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
Our Mission
We partner with state agencies, nonprofit organizations, industry and other federal agencies to restore, monitor and maintain fish and other aquatic resources. We aid in recovery of species listed as threatened or endangered and continue to help prevent new aquatic species from becoming listed. In addition we offer various types of technical assistance and continually work towards conservation of habitat in the Mississippi River Valley watershed to ensure these resources are here for future generations.
Our History
Establised in 1978, the office was previously located in Jackson, Mississippi and then Natchitochoes, Louisiana, it has been centrally located in Baton Rouge on the campus of Louisiana State University since 1993.