My testimony from today:
PGC Testimony
January 27, 2013
Good afternoon President Martone, Commissioners, Executive Director Roe, PGC staff, and guests. My name is Chuck Lombaerde, and I am the President of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs (PFSC).
The PFSC would like to thank the Pennsylvania Game Commission for their commitment to protecting our wild deer herd by quickly implementing safeguards after the discovery of CWD in a farmed deer. The decision for establishment of a large Deer Management Area, testing and enforcement is commendable. Further, we wish to thank the PGC for their outreach efforts and sharing of information in a timely manner with concerned citizens and sportsmen.
While there are a few items on your proposed agenda that we will be taking back to our membership for feedback on, there are a couple issues we’d like to address today.
The PFSC would like to request consideration for making small game legal to hunt on Christmas Day. Many youth hunters receive hunting supplies as Christmas gifts. Many are spending the day with relatives. What a prime opportunity to provide parent/youth/grandparent hunting experiences immediately after the celebration on Christmas morning. Grouse and pheasant hunters would be able to enjoy the quiet holiday in pursuit of their favorite quarry. In fact, the last of the pheasant stocking is usually just prior to Christmas.
We realize there’s concern that a WCO may get called out to work, but the reality is this could potentially happen whether small game hunting is allowed on Christmas Day or not. The PFSC has contacted our neighboring states, all of whom allow hunting on Christmas day, and all feedback has been positive, without any public or employee concerns expressed. Many have allowed Christmas Day hunting for many years. The PFSC believes that small game hunting on Christmas Day can result in a quality hunting experience for those hunters that will choose to take advantage of the opportunity.
There has been some talk amongst commission members regarding changes to the Mentored Youth Hunting program. The PFSC supports efforts to increase opportunities by adding species and methods, like transfer of DMAP tags; but we oppose any efforts to set a minimum age limit on Mentored Youth Hunters.
The parent and mentor should be the one to make those decisions based on each individual’s abilities. We feel the majority of Mentored Youth Hunting is accomplished within the regulations and without problems or violations. The few (if any) violations within this program should be handled like any other game law violation, and not penalize an entire program for worries of a few bad apples. The positive results from the program and the gains in youth hunters outweigh any perceived negative issues.
The PFSC supports the agency’s proposal to ban feral swine in Pennsylvania. Many other states who failed to react to illegal and accidental introductions into the wild are now paying the price of having expanding populations causing devastating damage to wildlife habitat and wildlife. We support all efforts to prohibit and eradicate them from Pennsylvania.
In closing, the Federation would like to reiterate our adamant opposition to any legislative action placing the Pennsylvania Game Commission or the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission under the purview of the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC). Doing so would only add an unnecessary and inappropriate level of bureaucracy on wildlife management, not to mention the additional constraints on accomplishing anything in a timely manner, like being able to approve season and bag limits using real-time data in time for the next hunting season. This would be a great injustice to wildlife and the sportsmen and women of Pennsylvania, and the Federation will not support such attempts to try to control sound, scientific wildlife management policies and programs via politics, emotions and personal agendas.
Thank you for your time and consideration of our opinions.
PGC Testimony
January 27, 2013
Good afternoon President Martone, Commissioners, Executive Director Roe, PGC staff, and guests. My name is Chuck Lombaerde, and I am the President of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs (PFSC).
The PFSC would like to thank the Pennsylvania Game Commission for their commitment to protecting our wild deer herd by quickly implementing safeguards after the discovery of CWD in a farmed deer. The decision for establishment of a large Deer Management Area, testing and enforcement is commendable. Further, we wish to thank the PGC for their outreach efforts and sharing of information in a timely manner with concerned citizens and sportsmen.
While there are a few items on your proposed agenda that we will be taking back to our membership for feedback on, there are a couple issues we’d like to address today.
The PFSC would like to request consideration for making small game legal to hunt on Christmas Day. Many youth hunters receive hunting supplies as Christmas gifts. Many are spending the day with relatives. What a prime opportunity to provide parent/youth/grandparent hunting experiences immediately after the celebration on Christmas morning. Grouse and pheasant hunters would be able to enjoy the quiet holiday in pursuit of their favorite quarry. In fact, the last of the pheasant stocking is usually just prior to Christmas.
We realize there’s concern that a WCO may get called out to work, but the reality is this could potentially happen whether small game hunting is allowed on Christmas Day or not. The PFSC has contacted our neighboring states, all of whom allow hunting on Christmas day, and all feedback has been positive, without any public or employee concerns expressed. Many have allowed Christmas Day hunting for many years. The PFSC believes that small game hunting on Christmas Day can result in a quality hunting experience for those hunters that will choose to take advantage of the opportunity.
There has been some talk amongst commission members regarding changes to the Mentored Youth Hunting program. The PFSC supports efforts to increase opportunities by adding species and methods, like transfer of DMAP tags; but we oppose any efforts to set a minimum age limit on Mentored Youth Hunters.
The parent and mentor should be the one to make those decisions based on each individual’s abilities. We feel the majority of Mentored Youth Hunting is accomplished within the regulations and without problems or violations. The few (if any) violations within this program should be handled like any other game law violation, and not penalize an entire program for worries of a few bad apples. The positive results from the program and the gains in youth hunters outweigh any perceived negative issues.
The PFSC supports the agency’s proposal to ban feral swine in Pennsylvania. Many other states who failed to react to illegal and accidental introductions into the wild are now paying the price of having expanding populations causing devastating damage to wildlife habitat and wildlife. We support all efforts to prohibit and eradicate them from Pennsylvania.
In closing, the Federation would like to reiterate our adamant opposition to any legislative action placing the Pennsylvania Game Commission or the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission under the purview of the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC). Doing so would only add an unnecessary and inappropriate level of bureaucracy on wildlife management, not to mention the additional constraints on accomplishing anything in a timely manner, like being able to approve season and bag limits using real-time data in time for the next hunting season. This would be a great injustice to wildlife and the sportsmen and women of Pennsylvania, and the Federation will not support such attempts to try to control sound, scientific wildlife management policies and programs via politics, emotions and personal agendas.
Thank you for your time and consideration of our opinions.
