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Managing deer herds can be tricky business
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BY ROBERT SWIFT
HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF
HARRISBURG — As Pennsylvania’s two-week rifle deer season starts Monday, hunters will be happy to know that any hike in state hunting license fees is probably off until 2010.
The discussion of higher fees is awaiting completion of an outside study of the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s deer herd program, said a Northeast Pennsylvania lawmaker with oversight over hunting issues.
Rep. Ed Staback, D-115, chairman of the House Game and Fisheries Committee, said the study aims to resolve controversy in sportsmen’s ranks in recent years over commission decisions on managing the deer herd and setting hunting seasons.
Deer herd management has been a hot topic in recent years. Deer have become scarce in Pennsylvania’s Big Woods Country, where public game lands and many hunting camps are located, yet more populous in suburban areas where a brush habitat provides food. The commission and statewide sportsmen’s organizations have debated whether hunting policies have fostered healthy deer herds in areas accessible to hunters.
Staback said resolving concerns about the commission’s programs is key to opening the door to consideration of a license fee hike bill by the Legislature. The current license fee has been in effect since 1999.
“Pennsylvania’s sportsmen’s community is going to have to be satisfied,” added Staback. “I think the question has to be settled once and for all. One of the reasons the commission has had trouble getting a license increase is because of the reluctance of sportsmen organizations.”
Staback anticipates keeping his chairmanship in the new legislative session.
The House passed a resolution last spring authorizing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to evaluate the deer management program and make recommendations for improvement. The resolution identifies a switch in deer management goals from achieving a density of deer in an area to establishing targets on deer health, forest habitat health and reducing deer-human problems as one focus of study.
The committee is expected to get assistance from the Wildlife Management Institute, said Staback. The institute is a conservation organization, headquartered in Washington with regional offices, that specializes in wildlife management issues.
The study will get under way in late winter and take about a year to complete, said Staback.
The game commission is pledging cooperation with the study, said spokesman Jerry Feaser.
The Senate Game and Fisheries Committee held a public hearing on the hunting fee issue earlier this month as the old session wound down.
A Senate bill sought to increase the adult resident hunting license fee from $19 to $25 in 2009; to $30 in 2012 and $35 in 2015.
Game commission officials support this measure, saying the fee increase is needed to maintain current wildlife programs.
The discussion of higher fees is awaiting completion of an outside study of the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s deer herd program, said a Northeast Pennsylvania lawmaker with oversight over hunting issues.
Rep. Ed Staback, D-115, chairman of the House Game and Fisheries Committee, said the study aims to resolve controversy in sportsmen’s ranks in recent years over commission decisions on managing the deer herd and setting hunting seasons.
Deer herd management has been a hot topic in recent years. Deer have become scarce in Pennsylvania’s Big Woods Country, where public game lands and many hunting camps are located, yet more populous in suburban areas where a brush habitat provides food. The commission and statewide sportsmen’s organizations have debated whether hunting policies have fostered healthy deer herds in areas accessible to hunters.
Staback said resolving concerns about the commission’s programs is key to opening the door to consideration of a license fee hike bill by the Legislature. The current license fee has been in effect since 1999.
“Pennsylvania’s sportsmen’s community is going to have to be satisfied,” added Staback. “I think the question has to be settled once and for all. One of the reasons the commission has had trouble getting a license increase is because of the reluctance of sportsmen organizations.”
Staback anticipates keeping his chairmanship in the new legislative session.
The House passed a resolution last spring authorizing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to evaluate the deer management program and make recommendations for improvement. The resolution identifies a switch in deer management goals from achieving a density of deer in an area to establishing targets on deer health, forest habitat health and reducing deer-human problems as one focus of study.
The committee is expected to get assistance from the Wildlife Management Institute, said Staback. The institute is a conservation organization, headquartered in Washington with regional offices, that specializes in wildlife management issues.
The study will get under way in late winter and take about a year to complete, said Staback.
The game commission is pledging cooperation with the study, said spokesman Jerry Feaser.
The Senate Game and Fisheries Committee held a public hearing on the hunting fee issue earlier this month as the old session wound down.
A Senate bill sought to increase the adult resident hunting license fee from $19 to $25 in 2009; to $30 in 2012 and $35 in 2015.
Game commission officials support this measure, saying the fee increase is needed to maintain current wildlife programs.
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