MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Alligator trapping, birding ventures and Louisiana’s laws are just a few of the topics to be addressed at the Coastal Eco/Agritourism Workshop in Lake Charles on February 11.

Coastal residents interested in earning income from nature-based tourism are invited to attend the one-day workshop at the Louisiana State University AgCenter’s Lake Charles Office, located at 7101 Gulf Hwy. The event begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes at 3:30 p.m. It is sponsored by Louisiana Sea Grant, LSU AgCenter and Mississippi State University.

“The workshop will help participants seek new and innovative ways to earn extra income,” said Daryl Jones, Natural Resource Enterprises program director at MSU. “The workshop is ideal for landowners, farmers, charter and guide fishermen, marina owners and swamp tour operators in Louisiana and Mississippi interested in developing enterprises from natural resources.”

The program also will help individuals manage wildlife resources on their properties.

Twyla Herrington, Louisiana Sea Grant and AgCenter fisheries agent, said the workshop will allow participants to talk to legal experts, economists, outdoor business owners, ecotourism operators and other experts in the field.

“The workshop will cover various types of outdoor businesses, including the pros and cons and income potential of each,” Herrington said.

Registration is $25 per person or $30 per couple and includes lunch, snacks and reference materials. The Natural Resource Enterprises program at MSU is a research and outreach program of the MSU Extension Service, MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center, Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

For more information about the workshop, contact Twyla Herrington at 504-858-9826 or therrington@agcenter.lsu.edu, or Dora Ann Hatch at 318-245-6791 or dhatch@agcenter.lsu.edu.