BATON ROUGE - On Friday, St. Tammany Parish became the latest parish in Louisiana to opt out of a statewide burn ban.

In the Capital Area, and elsewhere, the situation varies greatly from one locale to the next.

A tracking map managed by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry indicates that most parishes in the northwest part of the state are no longer under a burn ban, while most parishes in the southeast part still are.

In the region including Baton Rouge, parishes that have lifted the ban include Ascension, Assumption, West Baton Rouge, St. Mary, East Feliciana and West Feliciana.

A burn ban remains in effect for East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. Helena, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, St. James, St. John the Baptist and Tangipahoa. 

The Louisiana Fire Marshal said recent rains have not pulled the state out of its drought status. It is keeping a statewide burn ban in effect "with the ability for parishes to opt out."