Final Step Taken to Open MYHP to Harvest of Antlerless Deer; Board Adopts Resolution to Support Sunday Hunting; Board Prepares for Emergency Action in Case CWD Found in State; Board Approves Additions to State Game Lands; Board Takes Other Actions

HARRISBURG, Pa., June 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today took the final regulatory step toward allowing an adult mentor to transfer an antlerless deer license to a Mentored Youth Hunting Program participant, and the new opportunity will take effect for the upcoming 2011-12 deer seasons.

In April, the Board gave preliminary approval to the regulatory change so it would be in a position to take final action if the enabling legislation was signed into law before its June meeting.

Senate Bill 274, sponsored by Senate Game and Fisheries Committee Chairman Richard Alloway II, was unanimously approved by the Senate on May 2, and then the House on June 15. Gov. Tom Corbett signed the bill into law on June 24, making it Act 9 of 2011.

At its October meeting, the Board unanimously approved a resolution, introduced by Game Commissioner Jay Delaney, to support legislative efforts to allow adult mentors to transfer one antlerless deer license or permit to a youth under the age of 12 participating in the MYHP.  

"We salute Sen. Alloway for championing this bill, as well as House Game and Fisheries Committee Chairman John Evans for guiding this measure through the House," said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director.  "We also praise Gov. Corbett for signing this measure into law to expand an already popular program that was created by legislation authored by Sen. Robert D. Robbins, back in 2006."

While mentored youth still may not apply for an antlerless deer license, the new regulation authorizes adult mentors to transfer one antlerless deer license to an eligible mentored youth.  The antlerless license must be valid and in the possession of the adult mentor at all times while hunting.  The transfer of the antlerless license may not occur until after the mentored youth has harvested the antlerless deer. At that time, the license is to be transferred to the mentored youth to complete the harvest information and attach the carcass tag. A mentored youth may receive no more than one antlerless deer license in a license year.

Following the hunt, the adult mentor must report the harvest through the Game Commission's online harvest reporting system, the toll-free telephone harvest reporting number or mail in the report card.  The report does not need to indicate that a mentored youth used the antlerless deer license.

Under the MYHP, a mentor is defined as a properly licensed individual at least 21 years of age who will serve as a guide to a youth while engaged in hunting or related activities, such as scouting, learning firearms or hunter safety and wildlife identification. A mentored youth is identified as an unlicensed individual less than 12 years of age who is accompanied by a mentor while engaged in hunting or related activities.

The regulations require that the mentor-to-mentored youth ratio be one-to-one, and that the pair possesses only one sporting arm when hunting. While moving, the sporting arm must be carried by the mentor. When the pair reaches a stationary hunting location, the youth may take possession of the sporting arm, but must remain within arm's length of the adult mentor at all times while in possession of the sporting arm.

Legal species presently approved for the MYHP are squirrels, groundhogs, coyotes, antlered and antlerless deer and spring gobbler.

All youth participating in the MYHP must obtain a permit through the Game Commission's Pennsylvania Automated License System (PALS), which costs $2.70. Of that fee, one dollar goes to the Game Commission, one dollar goes to the issuing agent who processes the permit application, and 70 cents goes to the company managing PALS.

BOARD ADOPTS RESOLUTION TO SUPPORT SUNDAY HUNTING

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today approved a resolution to support repeal of the statutory prohibition on Sunday hunting. The vote on the resolution, which was proposed by Game Commissioner Jay Delaney Jr. and seconded by Game Commissioner Ralph A. Martone, was four in support, three opposed and one abstention.  Those voting in support of the resolution were Game Commissioners Delaney, Martone, David J. Putnam and Robert W. Schlemmer.  Those voting in opposition were Game Commissioners Thomas E. Boop, David W. Schreffler and Ronald A. Weaner.  Game Commissioner Gregory J. Isabella abstained.

Game Commission staff will present the resolution to the House Game and Fisheries Committee, which has been holding public hearings on the topic of Sunday hunting. The text of the resolution is as follows:

"The Board of Commissioners for the Pennsylvania Game Commission declares its support for a repeal of prohibitions on Sunday hunting by the amending of Title 34 (Game) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statues in Hunting and Trapping.

"Whereas, Pennsylvania has experienced consistent declines in hunting participation by both resident and non-resident hunters over the past several decades, with both the number of license sold and revenues generated experiencing steady declines, and

"Whereas, youth participation is vital to maintaining the long-standing tradition of hunting in Pennsylvania, we can effectively double the number of hunting days for youths during the school year by offering Sunday hunting, and

"Whereas, Sunday hunting is an effective means of recruiting new hunters and retaining current hunters by increasing the value of the hunting license through offering additional opportunities to spend time in the field, and

"Whereas, many Pennsylvania residents seek hunting opportunities and hunting leases in neighboring states that offer Sunday hunting; Sunday hunting will keep Pennsylvania hunters in Pennsylvania, and

"Whereas Pennsylvania has a long-standing tradition of hunting camps and clubs, Sunday hunting will effectively double the number of hunting days for camp owners and club members, and

"Whereas, Sunday hunting is expected to generate a substantial increase in out-of-state license sales and the accompanying revenue for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and

"Whereas, hunting license sales and their associated federal matching funds are the primary revenue source for the Pennsylvania Game Commission in carrying out its mission, including maintaining 1.5 million acres of state game lands and acquisition of additional public lands, research and management of wildlife and providing information and education to the public, and

"Whereas, Sunday hunting will provide substantial economic benefits to rural areas and businesses by increasing money spent by hunters on lodging, food, gas and other incidental items, and

"Whereas, Sunday hunting is expected to generate $629 million in additional spending and create 5,300 new jobs, resulting in $18 million in additional sales and income tax, and

"Whereas, the mission of the Pennsylvania Game Commission is to manage wildlife and its habitat for current and future generations, and

"Whereas, Sunday hunting, which is currently permitted to control a growing population of coyotes, will provide the biologists of the Pennsylvania Game Commission a new tool to manage wildlife populations, and

"Whereas, the forty-three states that currently permit Sunday hunting have not experienced any discernable impact on the health or vibrancy of game populations, and

"Whereas, the Board of Commissioners recognizes the authority to permit Sunday hunting lies entirely with the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, and

"Whereas, if the General Assembly repeals the restrictions on Sunday hunting thus giving authority to regulate Sunday hunting to the Board of Commissioners, the Board recognizes the many stakeholder groups any action on Sunday hunting will affect and will endeavor to engage these stakeholders before passing any new regulations in regard to Sunday hunting.

"NOW, THEREFORE, we the Board of Commissioners for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, do hereby urge the General Assembly of Pennsylvania to REPEAL the PROHIBITION ON SUNDAY HUNTING IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA."

BOARD PREPARES FOR EMERGENCY ACTION IN CASE CWD FOUND IN STATE

With Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) nearly 10 miles south of the Pennsylvania-Maryland line, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today gave preliminary approval to a revised set of emergency powers to enable the agency's executive director to take actions to mitigate risk factors and to determine the prevalence and geographic distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

"For more than a decade, the Game Commission has been monitoring our CWD status and striving to prevent CWD from coming to our state," said Carl G. Roe, agency executive director. "While I hope that I never have to use these new tools, it is imperative that this agency's executive director be properly empowered to contain the disease to one area and prevent, or at the very least, slow the spread of this disease."

Under the emergency authority, if the executive director concludes the spread of CWD poses a threat within or adjacent to this Commonwealth, he will have the emergency authority to: prohibit the importation of high-risk cervid parts from areas that are known to harbor CWD; and define and designate Disease Management Areas (DMAs) in this Commonwealth.

Once a DMA is designated, the executive director will be able to use his emergency authority to take several actions, including: allowing the taking of cervids without regard to established seasons and bag limits and methods of take; requiring mandatory checking of hunter-killed cervids; prohibiting the removal of high-risk cervid parts; prohibiting the rehabilitation of cervids; prohibiting the use, collection, possession and exportation of cervid urine-based attractants; prohibiting the feeding of cervids; and prohibiting any new permits to possess or transport live cervids.

In such situations, it will be unlawful for any person to violate any provision of an Executive Order issued by the executive director.

First identified in 1967, CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) that affects cervids, including all species of deer, elk and moose. It is a progressive and always fatal disease of the nervous system.  Scientists theorize CWD is caused by an agent called a prion that is capable of transforming normal brain proteins into an abnormal form, in turn causing the death of brain cells. Prions are present in and shed into the environment by infected animals through blood, urine, saliva and tissue of the central nervous system.

There currently is no practical way to test live animals for CWD, nor is there a vaccine.  Clinical signs include poor posture, lowered head and ears, uncoordinated movement, rough-hair coat, weight loss, increased thirst, excessive drooling, and, ultimately, death.  There is currently no scientific evidence that CWD has or can spread to humans, either through contact with infected animals or by eating meat of infected animals. The Center for Disease Control has investigated any connection between CWD and the human forms of TSEs and stated "the risk of infection with the CWD agent among hunters is extremely small, if it exists at all" and "it is extremely unlikely that CWD would be a food-borne hazard."

As a preventative effort, the Game Commission prohibits hunters from importing specific carcass parts from members of the deer family – including mule deer, elk and moose – from a growing list of states and Canadian provinces.  The importation ban applies to hunters heading to: Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland (only from CWD containment area), Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York (Oneida and Madison counties), North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia (only from CWD containment area), West Virginia (only from the CWD containment area), Wisconsin and Wyoming; as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Details on the importation ban are available on the agency's website and on page 52 of the 2011-12 Digest, which is provided free to each Pennsylvania hunting and furtaker license buyer.

For more information on CWD and the state's CWD-prevention plan, visit the Game Commission's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), click on "Wildlife" in the menu bar in the banner at the top of the page, then click on "Wildlife Diseases Home," and choose "Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)." Additional information on CWD can be found on the CWD Alliance's website (www.cwd-info.org).

BOARD APPROVES ADDITIONS TO STATE GAME LANDS

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today approved agreements with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) to purchase 195 acres of land to add to State Game Land 294 in Mercer County, and 81.5 acres of land to enhance State Game Land 314 in Erie County.

In Mercer County, the 195 acres of land in Cool Spring Township adjoin SGL 294, and are subject to an existing reservation of oil, gas and mineral rights, excluding peat.  The option price is $90,000, with the Game Fund obligation limited to $62,487.89 and the remaining $27,512.11 coming from a donation from the Estate of Margaret Metcalfe.

The property is mostly wetlands, with about 130 acres in emergent, scrub-shrub and forested wetlands.  The upland portion of the property is 60 acres of woodland comprised of oak, maple, cherry and ash.  The remaining five acres are reverting farmland.  

Otter Creek flows through the property, as well as an unnamed tributary to Otter Creek.  A Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory review indicates the presence of the eastern massasauga rattlesnake, a state-listed endangered species within the vicinity of this property.  

Acquiring this property will fill in gaps between two separate tracts of SGL 294.  This contract is contingent upon the WPC being able to secure an option with the owners of the property and approval by the WPC Board of Directors.  If the WPC is unable to secure an option on this property, a cooperative agreement between the Game Commission and the WPC will allow the $90,000 to be used to acquire other lands acceptable to the Game Commission.

In Erie County, the 81.5 acres in Springfield Township are adjacent to SGL 314, and will be paid for through a partnership with the WPC.  The Game Commission's cost-share amount for the purchase of the land is $400 per acre, and related survey costs.

The acquisition is subject to the WPC purchasing the property, which is mainly forested with sugar maple, red maple, red ash, American beech, white pine and black cherry, with small pockets of open wetlands and old fields reverting back to early succession.  Raccoon Creek flows through the southern portion of the property, and public access is from Old Lake Road.

BOARD TAKES OTHER ACTIONS

In other action today, the Board of Game Commissioners:

• Gave preliminary approval to a regulatory change to reduce the applicability of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) tag to bobcats and  international exports only. CITES is a comprehensive conservation treaty signed by 175 countries, including the United States, which regulates the commercial trade of wildlife species and works to ensure that international trade of species is sustainable and does not threaten their survival.  In relevant part, CITES requires permanent tags to be affixed to carcasses or parts of species being exported internationally. The bobcat, while not threatened with extinction, is listed in CITES and trade is controlled in order to protect endangered cats that have fur and parts similar in appearance; therefore, CITES applies to international exportation of this species;
• Gave approval to solicit public comments on draft wildlife management plans for ruffed grouse and bobwhite quail, which were developed by the Bureau of Wildlife Management.  The plans will be posted on the agencies website, and a news release will be issued announcing public comment until Sept. 1;
• Recognized the final meetings of Game Commissioners Tom Boop and Greg Isabella.  While this was the final meeting in their eight-year term, both Commissioners have the option of serving up to an additional six months, or until their successor is confirmed by the state Senate; and
• Re-affirmed the Board's final 2011 quarterly meetings will be held on Oct. 3-4, at the agency's Harrisburg headquarters.  The Board will establish the date of the first meeting of 2012 at its October meeting.

Note to Editors: If you would like to receive Game Commission news releases via e-mail, please send a note with your name, address, telephone number and the name of the organization you represent to: [email protected]

SOURCE Pennsylvania Game Commission

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