Game Committee 04-10-08
Introduced in PA House
HB 2258 Reed: Amending Title 34 (Game) defining "wildlife management unit"; and further providing for resident license and fee exemptions. Defines the 22 areas in PA designated by the commission in which hunting and furtaking may occur and licenses may be sold.
Referred to Game & Fisheries Committee (2-26-08)
HR 642 Levdansky: Resolution directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct an evaluation and study of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's current deer management program and practices (initiates audit of the deer management program).
Referred to Game & Fisheries Committee (3-17-08)
Reported as Committed (3-31-08)
Adopted. Vote 201-0 (4-07-08)
HB 2285 Cutler: Amending Title 34 (Game) further providing for powers and duties of enforcement officers. Gives any officer the power to stop and inspect or search any means of transportation, any person, camp, tent, cabin or trailer only if probable cause exists, thereby removing the power to stop and inspect or search “at any time.”
Referred to Game & Fisheries Committee (3-5-08)
> Probable cause is a level of reasonable belief, based on facts that can be articulated, that is required to sue a person in civil court or to arrest and prosecute a person in criminal court. Before a person can be sued or arrested and prosecuted, the civil plaintiff or police and prosecutor must possess enough facts that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the claim or charge is true. (http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/probable+cause)
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PGC Release #026-08 - March 17, 2008 (excerpt)
GAME COMMISSION ANNOUNCES 2008-09 LICENSE YEAR
WILL NOT INCLUDE POINT-OF-SALE ELECTRONIC LICENSE SYSTEM
Antlerless deer license process to be similar for 2008-09
HARRISBURG - Expressing extreme disappointment, Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe today announced that this year's hunting licenses will not be sold through an electronic license sale system, commonly referred to as “point-of-sale." Beginning in mid-June, the agency will continue to sell paper licenses for the 2008-09 seasons.
"Automated Licensing Systems (ALS), the company hired to produce the new license sale system, missed deadlines to have the system in place for the 2007-08 license year and, on Nov. 15 and on March 1, missed two additional deadlines to deliver a fully-operational and fully-tested point-of-sale system for the 2008-09 license year," Roe said. "We will not inconvenience our license buyers or our license issuing agents by moving forward with a system that will not serve our customers and sportsmen and sportswomen."
"What this delay means for license buyers and issuing agents is that the license purchasing process, as well as the antlerless deer license application process, will remain relatively the same as 2007-08," Roe said. "Despite this set-back, we will continue to work with the contractor to resolve the project issues and shortcomings with an expectation to have a completed system by the end of 2008.
PGC Release #031-08 - March 31, 2008 (excerpt)
CHANGE IN ORANGE REQUIREMENT TAKES EFFECT
HARRISBURG - Following publication in the March 29 edition of the PA Bulletin, Pennsylvania Game Commission officials today announced that hunters planning to participate in the upcoming spring gobbler season will no longer be required to wear fluorescent orange.
PGC Release #029-08 - March 21, 2008 (excerpt)
GAME COMMISSION RELEASES 2007-08 DEER HARVEST ESTIMATES
HARRISBURG - The Pennsylvania Game Commission today reported that hunters harvested an estimated 323,070 deer in the state's 2007-08 seasons. That's down 11 percent from the previous seasons' harvest.
Hunters took 109,200 antlered deer in the 2007-08 seasons, down 19 percent from the previous license year's harvest of 135,290. Also, hunters harvested 213,870 antlerless deer in 2007-08, a five percent drop from the 226,270 antlerless deer taken in 2006-07.
"What stands out most when looking over the harvest data is the difference in the opening day deer kill of the two-week firearms season," said Dr. Christopher Rosenberry, Game Commission Deer Section Supervisor. "Report cards sent in by hunters show the antlered deer harvest on the opening day, Nov. 26, dropped more than 50 percent from 2006. Daily harvests for the rest of the two-week season, Nov. 27-Dec. 8, were similar to 2006.
"The firearms season's opening day antlerless deer harvest also dropped nearly 50 percent from 2006. However, the antlerless harvest throughout the remainder of the two-week season increased and, in due course, erased some of the opening day's harvest shortfall."Game Commission Rule May Impact
Field Trials, Training In Pennsylvania
By JOHN YATES
American Sporting Dog Alliance
HARRISBURG, Pa. – Proposed rulemaking from the Pennsylvania Game Commission would require a permit to bring gamebirds and other species for wildlife into the state, or to release them. The rulemaking notice was published in today’s Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Several species of birds and animals are affected by the ruling, but two categories would affect gamebirds that are commonly used for field trials, bird dog training, hunt tests and preserve hunting.
Here is a quote from the proposed rulemaking: “Unless otherwise provided in this section or the act, it is unlawful for a person to import, possess, sell, offer for sale or release within this Commonwealth the following wild animals or wild birds or the eggs of the birds or a crossbreed or hybrid of the wild animals or wild birds, which are similar in appearance….”
One of the listed categories says that permits will be required for “game or wildlife held in captivity or captive bred in another state or nation.”
Under “persons affected,” it says: “Persons wishing to import, possess, sell or release exotic or nonindigenous wildlife, including nonhuman primates, within this Commonwealth will be affected by the proposed rulemaking.” The term “nonindigenous” means a species that is not native to Pennsylvania.
Pheasant are considered to be an exotic species because they are not native to America. They originally come from China. Chukars and Hungarian partridge also would fit in the exotic category, as they originated in Europe.
The rulemaking is somewhat confusing, as it refers both to wild animals, and also to game and wildlife held in captivity or captive-bred. Game farm quail stem originally from stocks of captured wild birds, and thus would appear to be included in this rulemaking.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance is urging hunters, field trialers and people who
participate in hunt tests to make formal written comments in opposition to the part of this rulemaking that affects gamebirds. A formal comment means a letter written to express your opinion about the proposal.
Please send your comments to: Director, Information and Education, Game Commission, 2001 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17110-9797. The deadline is April 18, 2008.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance works to protect the rights of dog owners and professionals, and people who hunt with dogs. We maintain strict independence and are funded solely by the donations of our members. Please visit us on the web at http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org.
Wolf Removed from Endangered List
Lawsuit Threatened by Environmentalists
U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, www.ussportsmen.org April 1, 2008 (National)
The northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf was officially removed from the federal endangered species list by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on Friday, March 28.
A coalition of 11 environmentalist groups, including the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife and Natural Resources Defense Council, have said they will file a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior to keep the wolves on the endangered list.
The group plans to file the suit on April 28, 60 days after the FWS announced their intent to delist. The coalition is taking a wait-and-see approach before filing for an injunction on the killing of wolves in the interim.
Idaho, Montana and Wyoming now take control of continued conservation management for the species. According to the FWS, for the past several years, the recovery goals for the wolf population in this area have been exceeded. Wildlife officials say the population is increasing by 24 percent annually. The three states are currently planning wolf hunts for the fall.
According to the FWS, there are currently more than 1,500 wolves and at least 100 breading pairs in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The three states and the FWS will work together to monitor the wolf population for the next five years as part of the Act declaring the delisting. If annual reports and FWS analysis show recovery levels dropping to threatened or endangered levels, the population could once again be listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The FSW designated all of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, the eastern third of Washington and Oregon and a small corner of north-central Utah as the northern Rocky Mountain wolf District Population Segment (DPS) as part of the delisting.
The gray wolves of the Western Great Lakes DPS were delisted in 2007. The population of gray wolves in the southwestern United States remains federally listed as endangered.