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mudbrook

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PENNSYLVANIA MIGHT RECEIVE WILD PHEASANTS AFTER ALL
« on: January 30, 2014, 12:27:49 PM »
PENNSYLVANIA MIGHT RECEIVE WILD PHEASANTS AFTER ALL

State has received permission to trap 300 Montana birds.

 
It’s been three years since Pennsylvania has placed wild pheasants into any of the state’s four Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas, which aim to restore to the state self-sustaining populations ring-necked pheasants.

States like South Dakota, which initially provided wild ringnecks to Pennsylvania as part of the restoration program, have been reluctant to part with their own wild stock because of overall declines in their wild pheasant populations.

It looked as if 2014 would mark another year in which the trend would continue.

But when the Board of Game Commissioners took up new business at the end of its Tuesday meeting, there was some good news to announce.

The Game Commission has received permission from a Native American tribe in Montana to trap 300 wild birds and transfer them to Pennsylvania for release on Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas.

Commissioners said Tuesday, following the board’s meeting, that they had learned the news late the night before, and details about when a trapping attempt would commence and where any transferred pheasants would be released remained to be worked out.

Still, the news is a positive for supporters of the restoration program.

The board thanked the organization Pheasants Forever for partnering in a stepped-up effort to locate wild pheasants that can be transported here.

The Board of Game Commissioners established the state’s first Wild Pheasant Recovery Area (WPRA) in 2007. Today, there are four of them, each selected because of its potential to support wild pheasants.

Only trapped-and-transferred wild pheasants are introduced into a WPRA, given their heightened chances for survival in the wild, compared to propagated birds.

There is no open season for the taking of pheasants in any Wild Pheasant Recovery Area. The training of dogs also is prohibited within a WPRA, as is the release of any propagated pheasants.

Wild pheasants have been introduced to three of the four WPRAs, but the Franklin County WPRA has not received pheasants.

Permission to trap and transfer pheasants from Montana would seem to give the Franklin County WPRA a great chance at getting its first birds, though commissioners said it’s too early to say where transferred birds might go.

In addition to the Franklin County WPRA, there also is the Central Susquehanna WPRA, the Somerset WPRA and the Hegins-Gratz WPRA.

A presentation made Monday to the commissioners by the Game Commission’s Bureau of Wildlife Management indicated hen pheasant densities in all WPRAs that have received wild birds are approaching or exceed target levels.

 

BALD EAGLE REMOVED FROM THREATENED SPECIES LIST

Game Commission says the raptor will continue to enjoy many protections under new designation.

 

The bald eagle has officially been removed from Pennsylvania’s threatened species list.

The Board of Game Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously reclassify the bald eagle as a Pennsylvania “protected” species.

The commissioners’ vote follows the close of a 60-day period to accept public comments on the proposal.

Game Commission endangered birds biologist Patti Barber told the commissioners 65 comments were submitted in the process; 52 of them were supportive of delisting. And of the 13 comments opposing delisting, 10 of them cited concern that delisting would somehow leave eagles more vulnerable and less protected.

That simply isn’t the case, Barber assured the commissioners.

In being removed from the state’s threatened species list, the bald eagle will be upgraded to “protected” status, Barber said. As the name implies, she said, the eagle will continue to enjoy protections provided by the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Lacey Act. Regulations will continue to restrict activity near eagle nests, she pointed out.

The recommendation to remove the bald eagle from the state’s threatened species list is triggered by the Game Commission’s bald-eagle management plan, which calls for delisting when all of four criteria are met for a five-year span. That happened in 2013, when 271 bald-eagle nests were documented in 57 Pennsylvania counties, and there were an average of 1.2 fledglings per successful nest.

The removal of the bald eagle from the state’s threatened species list caps a remarkable recovery for bald eagles in Pennsylvania. In 1983, when the Game Commission launched what would become a seven-year restoration program, only three known nests remained in Pennsylvania, all of them in Crawford County in the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania, along the Ohio border.

 

MENTORED ADULT PROGRAM RECEIVES NOD

Program would offer three-year opportunity to hunt antlerless deer, other species.

 

Citing a goal of adding to the ranks of hunters, the Board of Game Commissioners on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to mentor-based program for first-time hunters 18 years old and older.

Since 2006, the Game Commission has offered its Mentored Youth Hunting Program, which enables children under the age of 12 to obtain a permit and legally harvest select game species under the close supervision of a properly licensed adult mentor.

The new Mentored Adult Hunting Program would follow a similar model.

Adults obtaining a permit through the program would be able to take part in hunting activities without first needing to take the basic Hunter-Trapper Education course.

This would be a limited-term opportunity available to adults. Under the program, a mentored adult could purchase a permit for no more than three consecutive license years, at the end of which he or she would have to take a basic Hunter-Trapper Education course and purchase an adult hunting license.

There wouldn’t be much of a cost break between what’s expected to be the $19.70 resident mentored adult permit and the $20.70 adult general hunting license. Nonresident mentored adults would pay an expected $100.70 for their permit. There would be many more hunting opportunities available with the purchase of a general hunting license, too.

Mentored adults would be able to hunt only squirrels, ruffed grouse, rabbits, pheasants, bobwhite quail, hares, porcupines, woodchucks, crows, coyotes, antlerless deer and wild turkeys. Other species may not be hunted or harvested by mentored adults.

Mentored adults would need to hunt within eyesight of their adult mentor, and at a proximity close enough for verbal instruction and guidance to be easily understood. The adult mentor would need to transfer a tag to the mentored adult for any big-game harvest.

Mentored adults could not harvest antlered deer. Antlerless deer could be taken by using a proper, transferred antlerless license or Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) permit. Antlerless licenses are valid within the wildlife-management unit for which they were issued. DMAP permits are valid on the specific properties for which they were issued.

Only one antlerless license and one DMAP permit could be transferred to a mentored adult during a given license year,

The commissioners said creation of a Mentored Adult Hunting Program follows much study on how to apply the successes of the Mentored Youth Hunting Program to nonhunting adults.

The program will be up for final approval at the commissioners’ April meeting.

 

LARGER BEAVER TRAPS, BROADHEADS OK’D

Body-gripping traps measuring 10 by 12 inches, 3 1/4 –inch broadheads to be legalized.

 

The Board of Game Commissioners on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to measures that permit use of a widely available size of body-gripping trap, as well as longer broadheads than previously were permitted.

With the changes, the maximum size for lawfully set body-gripping traps will be 10 inches tall by 12 inches wide. At present, no body-gripping traps larger than 10 inches by 10 inches can be set.

The change adopted by the board still awaits final approval and won’t take effect earlier than the start of the 2014-15 hunting season.

Game Commission staff called the change “nominal,” and said it won’t have a negative impact on wildlife.

If the change receives final approval, 10- by 12-inch body-gripping traps would need  to have a single, offset trigger  positioned in parallel not more than 1 ½ inches from either vertical section of the set trap.

Game Commission staff also recommended that expanding the length of permitted broadheads from 3 to 3¼ inches will not have a negative effect on wildlife. The change will accommodate certain handmade and commercially available products.

The change to longer broadheads also awaits final approval.

 

BOARD LIFTS ELK-HUNTING RESTIRCTION ALONG ROUTE 555 CORRIDOR

Staff and officers believe safety zone no longer needed.

 

In 2004, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners created a 150-yard safety zone for elk along the Route 555 corridor, from Weedville to Hicks Run in Elk County.

The safety zone was introduced to address problems with road hunting and the killing of highly visible elk in yards and public places.

Staff recommended the change with the support of local wildlife conservation officers, who believe a specially designated safety zone no longer is needed, and that some of the animals that need to be removed from the area can be harvested legally and ethically within 150 yards of the road.

Commissioners approved the change, pointing out it was recommended by regional staff.

 

BAITING PERMIT APPROVED FOR SOUTHEAST SPECIAL REGS AREA

Board says measure addresses specific problem.

 

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners on Tuesday gave specific approval to creating a permit that will allow private-property owners in the southeastern Pennsylvania special regulations area limited opportunities to use bait while deer hunting.

Baiting already is allowed in the special regulations area on properties enrolled in the agency’s Deer Depredation Program, commonly called the “Red Tag” program.

Through the use of permitted baiting, commissioners hope to achieve higher deer harvests in an area where there’s high potential for human-deer conflicts, and where hunting access is extremely limited.

Baiting will be limited to shelled corn and protein pellet supplements, not to exceed five gallons per site, and distributed through automatic mechanical feeders set to dispense bait up to three times a day during legal hunting hours.

There will be no cost for the permit, commissioners said. And a landowner or authorized land agent can apply for a permit.

The provisions are set to become effective in July.

 

EARLIER DMAP DEADLINE GIVEN FINAL APPROVAL

Change affects landowners, aims to make all DMAP permits available at once.

 

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners gave final approval to a change that should help ensure all Deer Management Assistance Program permits are available at the time new hunting licenses go on sale.

The board unanimously approved moving to an earlier date the deadline for landowners to apply to take part in the program. With the change, landowner applications will be due May 1 – a month earlier than in previous years.

 The Game Commission also will speed up its distribution of application forms to landowners, making the forms available at each of the agency’s regional offices, and on the agency website, by Feb. 15 of each year.

By speeding up the application schedule, the commissioners hope to make all DMAP permits available at the time hunting licenses go on sale. With the later deadline, some applications couldn’t be processed until after the start of license sales, meaning hunters who were interested in obtaining a DMAP permit for a specific property might have to keep checking back to see if sales have begun, and might miss their window of opportunity for getting a permit.

Chris Rosenberry, who heads up the Game Commission’s Deer and Elk Section, said the change will benefit hunters, but might cause some confusion for landowners. In an effort to reduce potential problems, letters and applications will be sent to landowners who previously participated in DMAP.

DMAP provides an additional means for qualifying landowners to manage deer to meet their specific land-use goals. DMAP permits can be used only to harvest antlerless deer on the properties for which the permits are issued.

The DMAP permits hunters obtain are separate from the antlerless licenses sent out by county treasurers, and DMAP permits are not counted as part of the three-license limit that exists for antlerless licenses in most parts of the state.

Hunters can get up to two DMAP permits per property.

DMAP permits can be purchased through the Pennsylvania Automated Licensing System (PALS), but because some properties make only a handful of permits available, securing a permit can be a challenge. That’s why many of the hunters who seek DMAP permits each year buy their hunting licenses on the first day of sales annually – the second Monday of June.

Based on the application schedule that had been used, however, permits for many DMAP properties weren’t available to purchase until late June, or even early July.

And if permits for a specific property weren’t available right away, interested hunters had few options but to check back at a later time.

“This change is one of convenience for hunters,” Rosenberry said. “Now hunters will be able to purchase all of their hunting licenses and DMAP permits at one time.”

 

DECISION TO REMOVE LATE FEE GETS FINAL APPROVAL

Board says automated system takes pressure off of licensing agents.

 

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners gave final approval to proposal to remove a $100 late fee for agents who issue hunter and furtaker and miss the deadline to apply.

Preliminary approval was given at the June 2013 meeting.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners said it’s no longer necessary to assess a late fee because the automated system of selling licenses is easier to administer.

Under the old system, ample time was needed to create agents’ accounts and coordinate the shipment of hunting licenses before the start of the new license year

With the automated system, licenses no longer are shipped to agents. In giving approval to the matter, the commissioners said continuing to assess the late fee created an unnecessary burden on issuing agents.

While the late fee was removed, the March 31 deadline by which agents are to apply ahead of the new license year (which typically begins July 1) remains unchanged.

The commissioners also added language to the amendment stating there’s no guarantee that those who apply late to become agents will be approved for sales by the July 1 start of the license year.

The amendment also clarifies that rebates offered to issuing agents based on the number of licenses sold are given only for sales during their first license year, and not thereafter.

 

COMMISSIONERS REAPPOINTED TO BOARD POSITIONS

Schlemmer, Putnam, Hoover keep seats.

 

In its first meeting of the new year, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners opted keep consistent the lineup of officers on the board.

Robert Schlemmer, who represents Region 2 in southwestern Pennsylvania, was reappointed as president.

David Putnam, who represents Region 3 in northcentral Pennsylvania, was reappointed as vice president, while Brian Hoover, who represents Region 8 in southeastern Pennsylvania was reappointed as secretary.

 

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