DNR preparing to take operations fully online

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources is about to step into the 21st Century in a big way. The agency plans to be fully integrated electronically by January 2, 2015.

“After January 1, the system will be live and there will be no more old-style paper licenses,” said Wildlife Section Chief Curtis Taylor.

The DNR has offered online hunting and fishing license sales for more than a decade, but the system will be revamped and will encompass all of the agency’s interactions with the public.

The new system will be used for the sale of hunting and fishing licenses, all stamps and extra hunting privileges, and will be used to apply for lifetime hunting and fishing licenses. Additionally, it will be used to electronically check game and will replace the long standing check stations in West Virginia.

The game check system will not be fully integrated until April. Taylor said the priority was the license sales to enable everybody who buys an annual license to make their purchases for 2015 on line. Those who don’t have a computer can still buy their license at a store, but it will be sold over the computer as well and the license will be printed with all of the information on a paper much like a cash register receipt.

The system is about to enter a period of darkness. Plans call for all DNR systems to be shutdown December 23rd to allow for migration of files and testing of the system.

Lifetime license applicants will still be able to receive a plastic card as their permanent license, however those will not be available during the dark period in the last week of the year. Paper applications can be made, but the license will not be available until January.

The electronic game check will not only be available via computer, but will also be possible through dialing a telephone number and registering information over the phone for those who may not be computer savvy.