Game Committee 03-08-07
Introduced in PA House
HB 142 Baker, Right to Hunt Amendment: The right of the people to hunt, fish and harvest game shall be foreverpreserved, subject to restrictions relating to species, seasons, licensure, limits, methods and location prescribedby the laws of this Commonwealth-- Referred to House Game and Fisheries Committee, 1-31-07Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Does not give hunting a priority over other uses, but containsa no net loss of hunting acreage.-- Referred to House Game and Fisheries Committee, 1-31-07
HB 69 Keller: Amending Title 34 (Game) defining "mounted specimen"; and further providing for buying andselling game. Provides for: the purchase or sale of game raised under the authority of a propagating permit, thecapture or sale of game after securing a permit, the sale of tanned skins or mounted head of game not killed ina wild state in Pa, the sale or purchase of any inedible part of legally killed game, the sale of mounted specimensby an auctioneer.-- Referred to House Game and Fisheries Committee, 1-30-07HB 205 Pickett: Amending Title 34 (Game) further providing for the composition of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Excludes current or former Game Commission employees or deputy wildlife conservation officers from appointment to the Game Commission.
-- Referred to House Game and Fisheries Committee, 2-05-07
HB 550 Hershey: Amending Title 34 (Game) further providing for killing game or wildlife to protect property and for general categories of permits.
-- Referred to House Game and Fisheries Committee, 3-06-07
HB 249 Godshall: Amending Title 34 (Game) further providing for the term of office of commissioners. Changes the terms of office to two terms of four years.
--Referred to House Game and Fisheries Committee, 2-06-07
HB 250 Godshall: Amending Title 30 (Fish) further providing for the term of office of commissioners. Changes the terms of office to two terms of four years.--Referred to House Game and Fisheries Committee, 2-06-07
HB 251 Godshall: Amending Title 34 (Game) prohibiting hunting in and around game feeders and game feeding areas. Makes hunting unlawful within 150 yards of any game feeder, feeding areas, or baited areas. An exception is provided for special regulations where baiting is allowed.--Referred to House Game and Fisheries committee, 2-06-07
Game Committee 03-08-07 (2)
HB 252 Godshall: Amending Title 34 (Game) further providing for certain activities by persons holding disabled person permits. Removes the unloaded firearm provision and locating game provision for any person who is permanently confined to a wheelchair and who uses an electric-powered wheelchair or any other motorized conveyance for mobility when hunting.
-- Referred to House Game and Fisheries Committee, 2-06-07
HB 253 Godshall: Amending Title 34 (Game) further providing for the limited hunting of woodchucks on Sundays. Written permission of the landowner would be required.-- Referred to House Game and Fisheries Committee, 2-06-07
HB 461 Godshall: Amending Title 34 (Game) further providing for recreational hunting on commission-owned lands.Game commission-owned lands shall be open to access and use for recreational hunting except as limited by thecommission for reasons of public safety, fish or wildlife management, or homeland security or as otherwise limitedby law. Contains a no net loss provision.-- Referred to Game and Fisheries Committee, 2-26-07
HB 586 Godshall: Amending Title 34 (Game) providing for advisory committees. Definition: “Advisory Committee.” An advisory committee of the commission which includes individuals which are not commission staff.
-- Referred to the Game and Fisheries Committee, 2-06-07
on State forms. No person shall be required to provide more than the last four digits of his Social Security numberon any form required by a State governmental entity. This shall not apply to tax forms.--Referred to House Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, 2-05-07
PGC News Release #023-07 03-01-07 (excerpts)
USFWS BEGINS REVIEW OF MOUNTAIN LION STATUS IN EAST
HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe today announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is beginning a review of scientific and commercial information to determine the status of the endangered eastern cougar.
The USFWS placed the eastern cougar on the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in 1973. The last known Pennsylvania native mountain lion was killed in Berks County in 1874.
"An important part of the Service's review will be to compile the best available scientific evidence and objectively assess whether the eastern cougar is truly extinct," said Mark McCollough, endangered species biologist in the Service's Northeast Region.
*NOTE -The US Fish and Wildlife Service reports: “Lacking definitive evidence of the species’ existence, the Service has presumed the eastern cougar to be extinct. It is improbable that a small cougar population persisted in the eastern states for over a century. Most of the confirmed cougar records since 1950 (animals killed, good quality photos/videos, genetic evidence) are known to be escapes of captive origin. There may be thousands of captive cougars in the eastern United States.”
Game Committee 03-08-07 (3)
USSA PRESS RELEASE Feb. 26, 2007 (excerpts)
USSA Briefs Senators On Hunting and Polar Bear Conservation
(Columbus) - The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance represented the nation’s sportsmen Friday as it addressed U.S. Senators on why listing the polar bear as federally threatened and curtailing Americans’ opportunities to hunt the animal will prove detrimental.
On Feb. 23, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance representative David Lampp met with the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to explain how a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to list each of the 19 polar bear populations as threatened under the Endangered Species Act will impair wildlife research and conservation efforts.
“Listing the polar bears puts conservation for these animals in jeopardy,” said U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance President Bud Pidgeon. “The listing will do nothing toward addressing the environmental factors claimed to pose a long-term threat to polar bear populations. The proposed listing seems to be more a gesture of political correctness than a true conservation measure.”
“Legally hunted polar bear populations are among the healthiest populations in the world,” said Lampp. “This is due in large part to the funding that hunting provides for research and conservation, and the high economic value placed on the polar bear as a result of hunting programs.”
Lampp pointed out that the proposed listing will put an end to the Canadian hunting program, which has been part of a proven polar bear management plan.
Ninety percent of Canada’s polar bear hunting clientele come from the United States. These sportsmen, who hunt the bears and return to the U.S. with their trophies, account for approximately 80 hunts per year, which means more than $2.4 million into local communities, and polar bear research and conservation annually.
American hunters cannot pursue the animals in the United States due to restrictions in the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
“The proposed listing will prohibit the import of all polar bear trophies into the United States,” said Lampp. “This will deal a severe blow to polar bear hunting and research.”
“The service names the loss of Arctic sea ice due to climate change - not hunting - as the threat to polar bears,” said Lampp. “The Endangered Species Act provides no way for the Interior Secretary to stop climate change, thus the listing will not address the perceived threat.”
*NOTE: The claim that polar bears are endangered is pure speculation; just as the claimed loss of Arctic sea ice is pure speculation. Presently, the polar bear population is 20,000-30,000, up from 8,000-10,000 in 1970. Polar bears are healthy in numbers and distribution. The bear population shifts with the shifting ice. As omnivores that will eat anything, they also adapt well to living on land.