Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Department Unveils New Mobile Website
Surfing for hunting and fishing information with a smart-phone just got easier.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources today unveiled a new mobile-friendly website designed for outdoors enthusiasts on the go. “We made it usable for everyone, no matter what kind of mobile device they use,” said Les Campbell, web developer for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “We also focused on making it as easy to use as possible.”
The new site is located at http://fw.ky.gov/mob/
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s mobile site offers a variety of useful features. Users can click the fishing icon and a GPS-enabled program will let them know where to find the closest places to fish. A link will even provide a map and directions to get there.
By selecting the hunting icon, people can use their smart-phone to buy a hunting license, telecheck a deer and quickly find season dates for all game. For those looking for a place to hunt, the WMA (Wildlife Management Area) look-up section provides instant information about public land hunting locations. The site links to maps and driving directions for each property.
Other features include a contact icon for quick access to the law enforcement dispatch center. Users can also use this link to e-mail the department’s Information Center with a question while they’re sitting in a deer stand.
The site offers so much more: People can watch “Kentucky Afield” television segments on their phones while in the woods, or listen to “Kentucky Afield” radio podcasts. Visitors also can read the latest news from Kentucky Fish and Wildlife.
“We tried to figure out what people needed the most and built the site around that,” Campbell explained. “This is a way of making the department’s website usable for mobile devices.”
Dr. Jon Gassett, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, said the mobile site is part of the department’s ongoing effort to improve digital accessibility to the public.
“This mobile-friendly site is just in Phase 1,” he said. “We still have more that we want to do. This is something that we plan to continually improve.”
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, is responsible for the conservation of fish and wildlife resources and for boating projects in the state. A commissioner appointed by the Fish and Wildlife Commission heads the department. The commission, which is responsible for department policy, is a nine member bipartisan body appointed by the governor from a list of candidates voted upon by sportsmen's organizations in each of nine districts.
