Game Commission makes pitch for license increase
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS, Crawford County – Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe delivered testimony before a Senate Game and Fisheries Committee in support of Senate Bill 1527, sponsored by state Sen. Charles T. McIlhinney Jr. (R-Bucks), who chairs the Senate committee. Under Sen. McIlhinney’s bill, the following increases and decreases would be made to the present license fee structure, which was last changed in 1999:
– Resident adult hunting license would increase from $20 to $26 beginning July 1, 2009; to $31 beginning July 1, 2012; and to $36 beginning July 1, 2015;
– Resident antlerless deer license would increase from $6 to $13 beginning in July 1, 2009, and to $16 beginning July 1, 2015;
– Resident migratory game bird license would increase from $3 to $6 beginning July 1, 2009;
– Nonresident adult hunting license would increase from $101 to $151 beginning July 1, 2009;
– Nonresident junior hunting license would decrease from $41 down to $6 beginning July 1, 2009; and
– Nonresident junior combination hunting license would decrease from $51 down to $9 beginning July 1, 2009.
Additionally, Senate Bill 1527 proposes to reduce the number of consecutive days of service Pennsylvania National Guard and Reservist members would have to serve from 180 days to 60 days in order to qualify for reduced license fees.
“Toward the end of the 19th century, a group of conservation-minded sportsmen approached the General Assembly with a novel idea: create an independent agency to restore and protect the Commonwealth’s wildlife,” Roe said in his prepared testimony. “From this idea came the Pennsylvania Game Commission which for more than 110 years has managed, protected and conserved the Commonwealth’s wild birds and mammals, while promoting this state’s rich hunting and trapping heritage.
“When the Commission was first established it received a few hundred dollars from the general fund to finance its operations. This soon proved to be inadequate and the Commission and sportsmen organizations again came together and petitioned the legislature to create a hunting and trapping license and to designate that revenue from the sale of those licenses would help fund the Game Commission. This was by no means a non-controversial topic, in fact, in 1913 one of the first Commissioners wrote to the governor of the Commonwealth, and pleaded, ‘Give us a resident hunter’s license law and I will die happy.’
“While I do not intend to resort to similar pledges, we are essentially asking for the same thing that our predecessors asked for 95 years ago- adequate funding for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
“Senate Bill 1527, sponsored by Chairman McIlhinney, will provide funding that the Commission desperately needs and I thank Chairman McIlhinney for his leadership in introducing this legislation. I know from discussions with Chairman McIlhinney that his intent was to structure the legislation in such a way as to not place a burden on license buyers, but at the same time provide proper funding for the Commission. I believe Senate Bill 1527 strikes that balance.
“The increase in hunting license fees set forth in Senate Bill 1527 will still provide an enormous bargain for our state’s hunters. The chart behind me demonstrates what Pennsylvania resident adults pay for their basic hunting license and state migratory game bird license in comparison to what resident adults in various other states pay for the same hunting privileges. Furthermore, while many of these other states provide general funds for their wildlife agencies, in Pennsylvania state taxpayers do not contribute to the Commission- only our hunters and trappers. As you can see by the current chart, with the completion on Senate Bill 1527 the cost to the Pennsylvania Hunter in 6 years is still lower that all the other states but two. There is no doubt in my mind that the other states will raise their fees in the next six years making Pennsylvania still the cheapest license.
“It has been almost 10 years since the Commission received its last license increase and our record over this time demonstrates the extent to which the Commission has worked tirelessly to fulfill our mission of managing wildlife and providing opportunities for hunting and trapping. In the past ten years, the Commission has done much for the 465 species of wildlife entrusted for our care. The key to all wildlife is the habitat that supports them. We have continuously increased habitat development on state game lands. Although we are short almost 30 food and cover employees, we continue to look for ways of maximizing that effort. We coordinate and receive support from state organizations such as the National Wild Turkey Federation, Pheasants Forever and Ducks Unlimited to partner with us to develop habitat. These organizations as well as local sportsmen’s’ groups have helped, but they face the same fiscal challenges that we do. However, all that work is not enough. Since 80% of the land in the Commonwealth is in private hands we introduced a private lands habitat program a couple of years ago and we have completed almost 350 plans for private landowners. This program was funded through a federal grant, but the funding needs to be permanent.
“The second half of the equation for providing habitat involves acquiring and managing our Game Lands. In this regard, over the past 10 years the Commission has been aggressive in adding lands to our State Game Land systems. The Commission also created 11 new State Game Lands throughout the Commonwealth in counties such as Clinton, Northumberland, Lycoming, Centre, Indiana, Columbia, Schuylkill, Berks, Huntington, York and Clarion. It has added major acreage in five other counties. All told the Commission has acquired approximately 55,000 acres since our last license increase, which has brought the total amount of State Game Lands acreage to over 1.4 million. Our State Game Lands are managed for wildlife and provide models for habitat management.”
“The habitat efforts combined with species management programs have netted many successes in the past ten years. From bald eagles and peregrine falcons to fishers and otters reintroduction programs have been key to bringing back native species to the state. The management of 465 species is demanding and we need to spend more time and effort on species that we do not hunt. They are the species that contribute to wildlife watching that is the fastest growing outdoor activity.
“While habitat and species are critical part of our challenge we do not forget our responsibility to the great hunting and trapping heritage of Pennsylvania. In the past ten years we have moved forward many initiatives for hunters and trappers. The Commission has:
– Held the Commonwealth’s first bobcat season in approximately 40 years;
– Held the first elk season held in the Commonwealth in approximately 70 years;
– Created a three-day special firearms antlerless deer season for juniors and seniors, disabled persons, and Pennsylvania residents serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Services;
– Established a week long muzzleloader season for antlerless deer;
– Established the first regional bear season in addition to three-day statewide season;
– Created an archery-only bear season;
– Implemented a special youth pheasant season and a youth turkey season;
– Authorized the use of a crossbows in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D during any established deer season, as well as statewide during the elk and bear seasons;
– Implemented a Deer Management Assistance Program to ensure that hunting remains the first option for landowners attempting to manage deer on a more localized basis;
– Authorized the use of a second spring gobbler tag;
– Extended hunting hours by a half-hour past sunset;
– Eliminated the florescent-orange requirement for spring gobbler hunting; and
– Approved the use of cable restraints for trapping coyote and foxes.
“But of all the changes the Commission has adopted over the past 10 years, I believe the most important accomplishment is the mentored youth program which the Commission launched in 2006. As we enter the third year of the program, youth under the age of 12, now have the opportunity to spend time afield in pursuit of woodchucks, squirrels, spring gobbler and antlered deer. And at its June meeting, the Board of Commissioners gave unanimous approval to add coyote hunting to the list of species that mentored youth hunters can now pursue.
“On a personal note, there are few things I value more from my tenure as Executive Director than the countless stories from parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, thanking the Commission for this program which allows them to introduce their youth to hunting at an early age and helps build memories that will last a lifetime. And I would be remiss if I did not thank Senator Robert D. Robbins (R-Mercer), who is in attendance today, for his leadership in helping to pass the legislation which authorized the Commission to implement the mentored youth program. Thank you, Senator.
“But of course, any discussion of the Game Commission’s record over the past 10 years would be incomplete without discussing whitetail deer.
“In 1947, an editorial in our monthly-publication, the PA Game News included the following quote: ‘The White-tailed deer is today Pennsylvania’s most striking game animal. At the same time, it is also the Commonwealth’s most complicated game problem.’ Sitting here today, over 60 years later, I don’t believe anyone in attendance would disagree with that statement.
“While no one would argue that there are fewer deer today than there were 10 years ago, it is also undisputable that the deer herd of today is more in-tune with what the habitat can support and is older and healthier. Also the habitat is responding to the reduced deer populations, and we are now seeing growth of tree and plant species which are necessary for deer, and all wildlife, to survive.
“But as we look forward to the next ten years, there is reason for hunters to be optimistic. The initial herd reduction phase of our plan was completed three years ago, with the exception of the Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) in and around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In the remaining Units we are managing to keep the population stable, and beginning this year we are increasing the herd size in three of the WMUs. It is our goal to increase the herd within the other Units when the habitat, herd health and deer human conflict goals are met.
“In sum, deer management is an ever changing and evolving process. Just like the deer population of today differs from the deer population of 10 years ago, the deer population 10 years from now will look different than it does today. And we are confident that the short-term discomfort that the plan has caused for our hunters in the form of lower deer numbers will be outweighed by the long-term benefits we experience in the years to come and – more importantly- which we pass onto our future generations.
“While I have spent the past couple minutes talking only about deer, the reality is that deer are only one of the species that the Commission is responsible to manage. As a result of our efforts in the past 10 years, the number of black bears being harvested has been record-breaking. Wild turkey hunting continues to be exceptional. Grouse hunters are reporting an increase in population size. And for those fortunate enough to be drawn for an elk license or bobcat permit they have an opportunity which previous generations never experienced.
“Although we have been able to accomplish many things in the past 10 years, it is not nearly what we wanted to accomplish or what is designated in our strategic plan. Our challenge continues to be to address the demands of the public for service with the limited resources that area available. As an independent agency we are unique in the sense that we receive no appropriated money from the general fund. Consequently, we operate like a private business on the revenue side. We estimate what our revenues will be for the year, and then adjust accordingly throughout the year if revenues are short of expectations. I don’t know of any private business that is still in business selling its products at 1999 prices.
“In addition to being limited to 1999 selling prices we do not get to control our required expenditures. As an example, our labor costs have increased almost 40 percent since 1999. At the end of the current contract our personnel costs will have increased by almost $10 million annually from June 2007 and will surely increase in the next contract. Gas was $1 a gallon in 1999 and so far this year it crested at $4 a gallon. Fertilizer went up from last year’s cost of $490 a ton to $800 a ton in one of our regions. Our costs for in lieu of taxes is $1.7 million. Payments to other state agencies for services is $1.6 million. We do not control many of our costs as they are mandated by state contracts. Basically we are trying to run a business where costs have increased considerably with a revenue stream based in 1999.
“All of these increasing costs are outside of our control and leave us with the choice of cutting or eliminating programs and services. In our effort to keep our expenditures in line with revenues we have been forced to cut millions of dollars from our operating budgets. We have cut back on purchasing new equipment, suspended important wildlife research, reduced program and project budgets, been forced to temporarily close some of the rifle ranges on our Game Lands, allowed vacant positions to go unfilled and, in some cases, eliminated services altogether. We have been forced to drastically cut patrols by our conservation officers and wildlife biologists, as well as the habitat improvement work of our food and cover crews.
“Some have said we can cut more trees. However, that is limited by the number of people available and the market. We continue to treat the same number of habitat acres on an annual basis, however, the funds received for that habitat work fluctuates considerably. For two years we received revenues about 25 percent higher than anticipated based on market values and that has helped us survive over the previous two years. Today those same habitat treatments are bringing in considerably less revenue than anticipated. Black Cherry and Sugar Maple are down 30 percent and red oak is down 50 to 60 percent. Others reference the Marcellus Shale as the savior for everything the state needs. We would like to brief you separately on our gas program as it relates to the Marcellus Shale. It is not as simple or as lucrative as others may lead you to believe.
“Understanding our fiscal situation we have not been passive about finding alternative sources of revenue. We have established the Wildlife for Everyone Endowment Foundation located in State College that has assisted with grants for habitat development and our Seedlings in the School Program. We have worked with Legislators for alternative funding such as a portion of the state sales tax. We have suggested a cost of living indexed hunting license so there would not be a perceived burden on the sportsmen and women when licenses increase.
“Everyone knows that we cannot continue indefinitely on 1999 revenues. I believe there is general support from the hunting and trapping community for an increase in license fees. In reality the cost of the license is the cheapest part of the hunting experience. It is cheaper than a box of shells, cheaper than a tank of gas and cheaper than almost any other form of recreation. A recent study by Responsive Management on the Future of Hunting and shooting Sports stated that ‘costs and expenses related to hunting are not a major dissatisfaction or constraint on participation.’ The modest proposed increase in license fees that support a $3 billion industry and provides $214 million in state and local taxes seems like a simple task to me.
“Senate Bill 1527 is vital to ensure that we can continue to provide the services for our hunters and trappers and the general public. I believe that the Game Commission and sportsmen of this state have come too far over the past 110 years to compromise our outstanding wildlife conservation programs over the need for revenue enhancement.”